


Lost in Time

by Kouji757



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 105,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kouji757/pseuds/Kouji757
Summary: One harsh winter season a sinkhole opened in Somber Marsh, revealing a previously unknown ruins at its bottom.  The Civil Corps are no stranger to ruins but even they couldn't have predicted what they'd find down there or how it would effect their tiny corner of the world.Minor changes: seasons fleshed out to full 4 months each.  Being as there's so little information on what the world was like prior to the time period Portia takes place in all unofficial locations, references, and technology veer off into AU and headcanon territory.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Winter had been very eager to shove fall out of the picture this year.

It had announced its presence with a torrential downpour that turned to sleet that had eventually given way to a heavy snow that had hammered Portia for a good five, six hours straight and brought with it a bitter cold that was a stark contrast to the chilly but tolerable temperature from only a few days prior. 

It wasn't often that Arlo lamented living on top of a steep hill but he certainly did now as he and the rest of the Civil Corps struggled to clear the pathway without taking a sliding tumble down said hill; after several hours of work they'd only managed to clear to the topmost landing of the sidewalk ramp and they were all soaked, tired, and bruised up from repeated slips and slides -- if this was a sign of what kind of winter they were going to have this year then it wasn't going to be a pleasant one, and they'd likely need more than the one old shovel and broom they'd pulled out of the closet to get through the season.

Arlo himself was armed with that broom and shovel and was quickly tiring of moving the seven inches of snow that sat on top of the three inches of ice and had, within the last hour, stopped piling it neatly alongside the path they were clearing and instead was just happy to move it out of the way however he could.

Behind him, as he cleared away the top layer of snow, Sam and Remington worked together on the ice - Remington cracking and lifting, and Sam getting it out of the way. Theirs was perhaps the harder job even if Arlo technically had more to move by volume, and after a while (after she chucked a double handful of ice chunks off to the side) Sam straightened from where she'd been bent over, rubbing at her lower back. "Man, even with my gloves on I can't feel my fingers."

"This is weather only Papa Bear's suited for," Remington grumbled as he wedged the blunt end of the pickaxe under the edge of the next section of a freshly-revealed layer of ice. They'd tried earlier to use the actual pick end of the pickaxe to try and shatter the ice but had, in the process, accidentally gouged the sidewalk a few times; the only way to prevent any further damage was to use the other end as a makeshift pry bar - it was harder and would take longer but was better than the alternative. 

Remington grunted and threw his weight against the haft of the pickaxe and there was a crackling sound as the ice began to splinter and pull away from the stone beneath it. As the sheet lifted Sam bent again to slide her hands under into the gap between ground and ice. "--think Selene could rig something up to make this any easier?" she grunted as she lifted in tandem with Remington's prying.

"Think of it as strength training," Arlo replied. "We can't run today so this'll have to do."

"Let me rephrase that - think Selene could rig something to make this faster?" Sam went on, huffing a bit and stumbling as the ice came loose and she shoved it off to the side. "It's going to take a couple days just to get this ramp cleared off at the rate we're going."

Remington rested the head of the pickaxe on the ground and leaned against the handle, panting. "Let's switch gears and get the snow out of the way - maybe with some sunlight on it the ice'll melt enough to not be such a pain to pop loose."

"Sounds like a plan to me - give me that broom."

\----------------------------------------------------

For the last three days, thankfully, the weather had been clear and sunny, if still frigid. Remington had been right regarding the sun and the ice -even with the arctic temperatures it had thinned out enough that they'd managed to clear down to the landing near Gale's house and also the ramp and stairs that connected with Central Plaza. There they'd linked up with Paulie and managed to get a narrow footpath carved out around the border of the plaza leading north to the research center and south to Martha's bakery within an afternoon of work.

There were, out of sheer necessity, already compacted paths along Main Street made by Portia's townsfolk and the few stranded tourists present; once they'd gotten walkways open to Martha's and the research center they'd started working on what had already been worn in by stomping boots around town. It was a bit easier to bust up the compacted pathways and if more willing hands joined them they'd have it done soon enough -- Arlo had estimated another four or five days at most to get it clear even if it was just the three of them the entire time (assuming it didn't snow again). Knowing there was an end coming helped keep spirits high as they shoveled, slowly digging Portia out from under the worst storm anyone could recall in recent memory.

"At least the kids seem to be having a blast," Remington had chuckled as Toby and Polly went whizzing by on polished wooden sleds to thud into a pile of snow they'd left mounded at the base of the tree planter in the center of the plaza. "Going to have to keep an eye on them, make sure if they go out into the countryside they don't go flying out on top of the river - don't need anyone falling through."

From off to their left they heard a sudden cry then, and turned in time to see Erwa lose his footing and fall backwards onto his rump; with the snow mostly cushioning his fall he at least didn't go sliding down the incline behind the two kids but the ice under the snow left him floundering right at Martha's doorstep, unable to get enough purchase to get his feet back under him.

"-speaking of someone falling," Sam grinned. "Come on, let's go help him out."

Arlo turned his back to hide his smile - it felt impolite to laugh at Erwa rolling around in the snow - and kept shoveling, listening as Sam and Remington's footsteps crunched over toward the portly man. The crunching eventually stopped, as did the sound of shoes scratching against ice, and for a brief moment there was the sound of a conversation that was slightly too far off to hear -- the sort of noise where you could recognize someone was talking but not actually make out the individual words.

"'ey, Arlo - have YOU seen Dawa yet today?"

Well, he definitely could hear that. "Can't say I have. Why?" He jammed the tip of the shovel into the snow and turned toward the trio in the distance - Erwa was back on his feet and had his hands out to his sides for balance.

"Because I can't find him, is why," came Erwa's answer. "He wasn't home when I popped in yesterday, and he's not home right now, and I didn't see any new footprints in the snow aside from mine so it doesn't look like I've just missed him each time. It's not like him to NOT be at the tree farm - not for any length of time, anyway. No one else has seen him either."

Arlo frowned - this was NOT the kind of weather anyone should be wandering around in. "Right. We'll look for him. Did anyone see him recently?"

"Not since the day after that storm hit - Emily said she saw him busting ice off the gates to the farm but she's the only one since then."

"Guess we'll start at the farm then and work our way out from there. Let's get moving," Sam said. She took a careful step around Erwa and began to pick her way up the path, trying to stick to the well-worn and frozen over footprints in the snow. Erwa wobbled a bit in place and Remington steadied him with a hand on the shoulder and then Remington was off up the hill too.

Sticking to the path they'd made Arlo headed toward Paulie's store first and left the broom and shovel leaning against the counter, then he too began to carefully climb up the path and toward Peach Plaza. He didn't see anyone else along the way (not that he blamed them - it was bitterly cold) and it didn't take long to meet up with Sam and Remington at the city gates and head out as a group toward the tree farm.

Erwa was right in that there didn't seem to be any new tracks up this way; Arlo could pick out a single set, shaped in such a way that it looked like everyone who'd walked it had all stuck to the same footprints. They too stayed within the tracks, walking in single file all the way up to the farm's gates and beyond, following the footprints up toward the house where the trail then split into five different ones with only one leading up the steps to the building and the others angled out in various directions all seeming to lead out into the groves.

Arlo eyed the tracks - they were all spaced out enough that he doubted any of them met up anywhere close. "Everyone pick a trail and see where it leads. We'll meet back here in a half hour and see what we've found."

Remington picked a trail that headed along the fence line, and Arlo watched the snow fall from the fencing as the man kept a hand on it to steady himself as he headed off. 'Hope his knee isn't bothering him too much,' he found himself thinking -- he tried not to let it slip his mind that Remington's knee wasn't in the best shape but the man went out of his way to hide when the joint was aching anyway. He'd gotten on his case about hiding injuries or aches before but it always seemed to go in one ear and out the other. 'At least we don't lack for ice packs at the moment.'

Arlo shook himself from his thoughts; Sam appeared to have picked a trail that led out to the middle of the tree farm so Arlo chose one that was nearer to the house but angled to the west, and then seemed to veer to skirt along the northern border of the farm. He knew Dawa liked to walk the property a lot -- he needed to, to be able to catch any issues or potential signs of disease in the trees early enough to do anything about it, so him walking about was a usual occurrence...it COULD be that Erwa had just missed him each time he'd visited, and with the weather being so cold no one was really going outside unless they had to so it was possible Dawa had been outside when no one else was around to see him. Both of those were equally as possible as the man being in trouble somewhere out here and Arlo preferred to hope for sheer poorly timed coincidence as he plodded along. 

The branches around him sagged and creaked under the weight of the ice, and the further he went the more trees he spotted that were wrapped in heavy rope and what looked like burlap, and in a few places he saw a couple of trees that looked to be slowly splitting in half; one of them he recognized as a tree that had been struck by lightning a few summers ago -- there were thick metal rods connecting the two halves of the tree, and steel cables up in the crown of the tree holding the two halves together. The repair, as ghoulish as it looked, appeared to have actually saved the tree as, once he got up near it, he could see signs where the bark had grown over and bulged out near the bolts that held the rods in place.

Dawa's tracks led right up to this particular tree and went in a circle at its base so clearly the man was keeping a close eye on this one; Arlo edged around the tree and kept going, eying the trail ahead of him and noting how it stopped its meandering among the trees and, about fifty feet ahead of him, straightened out to...hmm.

To the northeast of here Arlo knew was a bridge that crossed the lake that separated the Somber Marsh from the northern shore of Portia's territory along that lake. Unless he was mistaken it sort of looked like Dawa's path was going to lead him directly to that bridge -- the trail had definitely straightened out enough for that to be a viable destination unless it suddenly veered away far enough ahead that Arlo couldn't spot it from here. 

It certainly seemed to be case as he drew nearer to the abandoned Old World building that made up part of the northwestern border for the tree farm, and sure enough as soon as he'd walked the length of that building and gotten to the far side of it he could see the bridge in the distance, and Dawa's tracks bee-lined straight for it.

"Why would he go out there..." he wondered aloud. It didn't make sense to go out to the marsh - there wasn't anything out there except monsters and ruins (even the fishing out there was poor). Dawa wasn't the sort to go anywhere near a ruin, he didn't fish, and so far as Arlo knew he'd never gone after monster-based resources on his own -- he wasn't even the sort to deal with monsters when they happened to invade his farm: he'd always enlisted someone else's help to shoo them away or exterminate them.

As he hurried along Arlo mentally cursed the weather as he didn't dare move at a pace faster than a brisk walk unless he wanted to take a tumble; it felt like it took an age to reach the bridge and even longer to carefully climb up the ice-coated wooden ramp and metal steps. Up at the top he could see the tracks heading straight across the bridge; he followed them across and then began to follow a path that seemed to crisscross at random between crumbling rock wall sections, rusted old buildings, and even a couple of gigantic trees that had gaps between exposed roots.

It almost seemed like Dawa was searching for something...but what? What could possibly be out here that he'd be looking for? 

The bridge he'd crossed led to one of two large islands in the marsh's lake -- this particular island was known for the two ruins on it: the Deepest Ruin and the Somber Marsh Abandoned Ruins. Dawa's tracks at least didn't lead up to either of those (not that Arlo thought he'd have any reason to go inside either) but eventually the tracks ventured outside of the crumbling, circular stone walls that partially enclosed the ruins, and once those tracks weren't sheltered by the walls they quickly disappeared -- erased by the cutting wind out here that had blown most of the snow away and exposed the ice to the sun (in fact he could almost see dead grass in several spots where the ice had almost melted through).

So Dawa had come out here, searched around, and then headed out of the walls to... The only other places out beyond the walls was another ruined building and a crashed ship that doubled as a bridge to the far side of the marsh, but surely Dawa hadn't gone out THAT far, right?

Rather than trek out there Arlo instead turned to look at the walls -- they were tall enough that maybe they'd give him enough of a vantage point to see if it was even worth it to check the other side of the lake. He fumbled a few times as he climbed (numb fingers - this cold weather was beginning to get on his nerves) and once he was at the top of the wall he saw an unmistakable black smudge on the far shore to the northeast. It was just far enough away that between distance and the glare of the sun off the snow Arlo couldn't make out much more than a dark mark on the ground but whatever it was was pretty big.

He'd definitely need to head over there now, if only to see what that was.

It was too steep to climb down the outer side of the wall so he had to go back the way he'd come up and then take the long way around; the wooden foot bridge that spanned across the two halves of the crashed ship was thankfully still intact and was even mostly thawed out so he got across without issue, and then it was just a matter of getting over to whatever the big black smudge was.

The trees were thick on this side of the lake, both in number and in canopy cover, and the snow had the branches sagging low so it was difficult to see through them; the big black smudge remained a big black smudge until finally Arlo was almost on top of it, and there he noticed two things.

One: the big black smudge was a freshly opened sink hole.

And two: there were footprints in the mud that ringed the opening that led to a long skidmark suggesting someone had slid in.

The sinkhole wasn't perfectly circular and was about twenty feet across at its widest point, surrounded by upturned rocks and broken tree roots, and the wind whistled eerily over the gaping hole. The earth around the sinkhole was sludgy and angled sharply downward toward the opening as well - he didn't dare get close enough to look into the sinkhole or else he'd risk falling in himself.

'I guess Dawa must have heard this thing opening up and came looking for what caused the noise, and fell in.'

"Dawa?" he yelled toward the opening. His voice echoed back to him; there wasn't a response. "Dawa?" he tried again, louder. Again there was no answer aside from the howl of the wind in the hole.

...if the wrapped trees were any indication then Dawa had to have rope stored somewhere on the farm, and there were trees enough here to tie off to provide a handhold to get close enough to investigate. 

Arlo turned and began to hurry back the way he'd come -- by now Sam and Remington would probably be waiting for him anyway, and he'd need their help to get down into the hole.

\----------------------------------------------------

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. You and Sam got me beat in the raw strength category, and if I do find Dawa down there he might need the help to haul him out. I'm pretty sure I can get down there and back out without a problem but I can't promise about him - especially if we don't know how far down this thing goes."

Arlo nodded at Remington; he did have a point - they had no way of knowing if Dawa was in any shape to climb out of there. "All right. Sam and I will wait up here - tug on that rope four times if you need us to help pull you up."

"Give me that other coil, there -- no telling how deep this goes."

Sam handed over a spare coil of rope which Remington slung over his shoulder bandolier-style, then with a nod he grabbed hold of the other rope - the one carefully tied to a nearby tree - and began to carefully edge his way forward toward the sinkhole's edge; the mud here went up to his ankles and then midway up his shins before he got to where he could slip over the edge and begin to carefully rappel down into the darkness.

\------------------------------------------------------

Once he was over the lip and down about fifteen feet the incessant howl of the wind across the sinkhole's opening ceased, and now all Remington could hear as he picked his way down was the crumbling of dirt and rock each time his boots touched the wall, and somewhere he could hear a trickle of dripping water -- probably melting snow, and the last thing this sinkhole needed was more moisture to cause a further collapse.

He estimated he was about thirty feet down when he wrapped his legs and one arm around the rope to hold himself in place long enough to use his other hand to click on the little headlamp they'd borrowed from Selene; around him the dark dirt seemed to swallow up the pale yellow light and as he looked down his heart jumped a bit as the lamp illuminated roots and vines that jutted out of the sinkhole's walls.

And the vines looked like they'd once been thick and had choked this entire area out but now there was a large gap through their center, and he could see the glimmer of sap leaking out of hundreds of split and broken ends of the plants as he steadily lowered himself toward them.

"Well, at least something slowed the fall," he mumbled as he went -- he'd be lying if he said he hadn't been silently panicking a little bit as the depth of this hole began to sink in (no pun intended) coupled with the fact that he hadn't seen Dawa or even signs of him until this point. If the vines had slowed and cushioned the man's fall then there was a pretty good chance he'd survived the drop.

Remington kept at it with his steady rhythm as he rappelled, and then just above where the vines began his boots hit the wall with a muffled thump; again he held himself in place as he experimentally stomped a boot against the wall and again got the thump -- it almost sounded like metal. He let himself drop a few feet more and then used a hand to dig and pry at the wall ahead of him; something bit into his finger and he yanked his hand back and (perhaps stupidly) stuck his fingers into his mouth but there in the light of his headlamp was a dull, reflective metal visible through the grime he'd scraped free.

This sinkhole must have opened into an underground ruins.

The way down became more difficult as now he had to pick his way through the vines that crisscrossed what he suspected was some sort of ancient elevator shaft as he was starting to see door-like shapes through the gloom and vine cover at regular intervals as he went. Eventually he reached the end of the rope he'd been using to climb down and he wedged himself into a little gap in front of what he was now sure was a doorway, and tied off the rope's end to the coil he'd brought down with him. When he was certain it was securely tied he let the coil drop and listened as it hit something not too far away beneath him -- apparently there WAS an intact bottom to this shaft, and it was a lot closer than he'd thought.

He went the distance of four more "floors" and then finally he was almost on top of a rusted out elevator...pod? Car? What did the Old World call these things? It was the thing that carried people up and down the cables - whatever it was called didn't really matter at the moment, honestly. 

From here he could see the ragged hole in the top where Dawa must have either fallen or climbed through, and the metal around that hole was sagging under the weight of the rope coil he'd tossed down; without a doubt it would fully collapse under his weight, so Remington was careful to aim himself at that hole and slide down through it, pulling the coil of rope with him and finally getting his boots back on solid ground within the elevator...thingy.

The air down here was heavy and smelled of dirt and rot; Dawa had already forced the elevator doors open and beyond it was a hallway full of dust and moldering old carpet. Remington could see footprints in the dust (really, the carpet had mostly rotted into dust itself) and began to follow them...not that he really needed them as there wasn't anywhere he could see to go except down the hallway, though there were doors to his left and right. He did stop to try one of the doors and couldn't see a way to get it open -- they had no handles and were almost flush with the walls.

"Dawa? You down here?" he called ahead of him.

There wasn't anything except his own echo so he kept going. Ahead of him the hallway turned to the left, and the closer he came to the corner the more apparent a thudding, dragging noise was beginning to become, until finally--

"Dawa!"

There around the corner was Dawa -- he had his hand up shielding his eye's from the glare of Remington's headlamp, and was dotted with bruises and cuts that left dozens of bloody spots across his clothing. "Never been happier to see someone in my life, I was running out of matches," came the man's reply.

"The feeling's mutual - had no idea what to expect to find down here," Remington laughed. He reached up to slide the headlamp over to his temple so he could look at Dawa without blinding him. "You in one shape, more or less?"

"I've been better - not worried about a few bruises but I'm ready to eat an entire cow by myself."

Remington nodded. "I bet. Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Yeah, about that... Don't know that I can climb out of here. Not on my leg, anyway."

Dawa gestured toward his left leg and Remington brought the headlamp around again; the yellow of the lamp made the bruised and swollen ankle look ten times worse than it probably was, but even still it was the size of a small melon and looked rather painful. "Ah. Hmm. Well, we've got Sam and Arlo up there ready to pull you out."

"Don't know if I'd trust that -- I mean, don't get me wrong, I trust THEM. But at current I don't trust gravity, friction, or the structural integrity of a regular ol' rope. Not even sure I could hold on the entire time to make it out of here either."

"How'd you end up down here anyway?"

Dawa huffed out an annoyed sound. "It's dumb. It's really dumb. So, I heard a noise out here and went looking - you know how I've been keeping an eye out for Aadit, after that Knight scared him off. So I hear this noise and I think to myself, maybe it's him, or maybe it's that damned Knight come back and is up to no good. I wait out the storm then walk out here and it takes awhile to find anything weird - but eventually I find this hole, and when I went to look at it it became a bigger hole and I fell right in."

Remington blinked at him. "Became a BIGGER hole?"

"Yeah, a bigger hole - it was barely bigger than I am when I spotted it. I guess it'd started opening before all the snow and ice hit, and the storm must've formed a crust over the actual size of the hole because I definitely wasn't near the opening when it all broke loose under me and dumped me in." He paused and looked around them. "Who knew there was an old ruin out here completely underground? Usually these things have some sort of above ground entrance. Wouldn't have gotten near if I'd thought it'd lead to this."

"Yeah...wouldn't have expected something like this." Remington rubbed at his chin, thinking -- if Dawa couldn't make it out on his own and didn't think the others could pull him out, then they'd need to find another way up. "You know, on the way down here I saw a lot of elevator doors lining the shaft. We're down pretty deep but maybe we can find a way to link up with a floor that's higher up and climb up out of that floor's door."

"Yeah...yeah, I like that idea. I think I could do a shorter climb, no problem. And I DID find another elevator back that way-" Dawa jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Couldn't get the door open though, and even if I could've I don't think there's any power going to it anymore."

Remington nodded and then dropped to a knee to swing his pack off his back; he rummaged through it and pulled out an old, battered water bottle. "All right, here's the plan then: I'm going to climb back up and let Sam and Arlo know you're all right, and have one of them get Selene or Higgins so we can get this elevator back up and running." He handed the bottle to Dawa, who began to chug from it noisily. "-I'll also get them to bring you something to eat, too."

"You're a lifesaver, Remington. In this case literally."

With a chuckle Remington pulled his pack back on and tightened the straps. "S'what we do. You need anything else in the meantime?"

"Don't think so. It's actually not so bad down here if you get away from the shaft and around the corner."

"What's ahead of here?"

"There's this big room back there - it's got some old furniture in it, some tables and chairs and a counter. Might've been some old cafeteria or something. Been back there since it's warmer."

"All right, then. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Remington heard a 'don't slip' behind him as he turned to head off; it was going to be a long climb back up.


	2. Chapter 2

When Sam came back she had Dr. Xu with her along with a sack of food and water, a lantern, a couple blankets, and had even thought to include a set of playing cards; Arlo had gone to find Selene and wasn't back yet but Remington felt safe enough to climb back down and deliver the supplies to Dawa. Once Dawa had eaten there wasn't much to do except sit and chat and play cards as they waited for Selene and Arlo to make their appearances.

It was an hour or so before they heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and then the two of them appeared like ghosts in the light of the lantern. Both were carrying toolboxes and Selene had an additional duffel bag strapped to her back (it couldn't have been easy to get that down the vine-choked shaft).

"This place is huge," was Selene's greeting as she stared around the room. She was stuffing a winter hat into the front of her coat as she stared around; her long black hair was frizzy from the wool cap but she smoothed it down absently and Remington could hear the crackle of static from here.

"What're we looking at?" Arlo asked.

Remington folded his hand and tossed it on the discard pile - he'd been losing this game anyway. "There's an old elevator back here somewhere that looks intact but needs power. If we can get Dawa higher up we can climb out of here no problem."

Arlo nodded and looked Dawa over. "-good to see you're all right. Do you want to wait here while we go find and fix the elevator?"

"If I can. The less I walk on this ankle the better."

Arlo nodded again, then returned his attention to Remington. "Selene and I will go looking for the elevator. You should stay here just in case. Since no one even knew these ruins were here there's no telling what might be wandering around in here."

"Will do," Remington said. "We haven't heard or seen anything but I guess that doesn't mean nothing's here." He looked back to Dawa. "Where's that elevator at?"

Dawa dropped his hand into the discard pile too and brushed his palm off on his shirt before pointing toward the back of the room. "You see that door back there to the left of that counter-looking thing? Through there is another hallway - not as long as the one you just came through but it leads right up to the other elevator."

"Got it. Let's get moving," Arlo said, gently nudging Selene with his elbow to get her attention. 

She jumped a bit at that but nodded all the same and followed Arlo off toward the rear of the room.

Once they were almost out of range of the lantern's light Remington scooped up the cards and began to shuffle. "And now I can blame any losses on paying less attention to the cards and more attention to what might be out there waiting to jump on us."

Dawa snorted. "Like I'd believe that. Deal."

\--------------------------------------

They'd found the elevator easily and had managed to yank a neighboring wall panel free to give themselves access to the wiring within; Arlo stood guard with a flashlight in hand while Selene examined the inner workings of this section of wall.

"Think you can fix it?"

"Looks like it's just a burnt out fuse and some melted wires...shouldn't be too hard to fix," Selene mused. "There should be a roll of wire and a ruler in the box you carried down, and the snips too. Start cutting me ten strips of wire about fourteen inches each, please."

Without giving him another look the builder woman began to dig through her second toolbox until she found a pair of pliers and what looked like an awl; whatever she intended to do with them Arlo wasn't sure but rather than watch her work he turned to the task she'd given him and carefully measured out and cut the wires she'd asked for, only looking up briefly at the sound of a very tiny amount of glass breaking -- it seemed she'd used the pliers and awl to pop the ruined fuse out of place and the force of it breaking loose had sent the tiny component bouncing across the floor to shatter against the opposite wall of the hallway. Selene did little more than shrug at that before pulling out fuses of various sizes from the toolbox and comparing them to the socket the burnt fuse had just been pried out of.

Once he'd gotten the wires cut he left them piled within Selene's reach and then waited there, squatting on his heels and listening; he swore he could hear something thrumming - it was a deep sound, and far away, but unmistakable if he sat and made no noise.

"-do you hear that?" he asked into the silence after several minutes of listening.

"The hum? Yeah. This place has power. I just have no idea where it is and what it's running to - can't tell from here."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"A bit of both. That this place is still powered somewhere SHOULD mean I can reroute power from whatever the source is to wherever we might need it - that's the good thing. The bad thing is I would need to find a place to tap in AND we also don't know what's being powered - if it's a security measure we might have trouble on our hands." She paused as she leaned into the wall and went up to her elbows in wires and pipes; when she came back out she had what looked like a battered and worn cloth toy in her hand but then she dropped it to the floor and Arlo could see it was actually an old, dead rat of some kind with blackened fur around what remained of its face. "--well this explains the shorted wires, poor thing. Its final mistake was biting something it had no business biting."

Arlo grunted in response - not really a lot he could say to that - and peered around them; he'd been on guard since they'd left Remington and Dawa behind but aside from the distant hum he'd not heard anything in this area. 

'Wonder what this place was for, to be buried so far underground,' he thought to himself. It seemed rather bare bones for a ruin - the walls were a faded out blue, the carpet (what was left of it) had been brown. There were light fixtures shaped like bowls spaced evenly along the walls just below the ceiling, mirroring one another across the hallway, and the ceiling tiles above them he guessed had once been white and looked to be bolted in place much like the wall paneling was. It gave off more of a warehouse vibe than anything he could picture people inhabiting or working inside.

His attention was drawn back to Selene as she prodded him with the toe of her boot; when he looked to her she reached out to take the flashlight and sat it on top of one of the toolboxes, aimed in at the open panel on the wall. "-keep looking anywhere but at me until I say otherwise, all right? I've only got one pair of these."

The 'these' she was referring to was a pair of goggles with thick, black lenses, and in her other hand she had a small flame torch - currently unlit but he knew both were soldering tools and that he shouldn't be looking at that directly. He shifted to put his back to her and soon the hallway was flickering as she began replacing the bad wires with the bits he'd cut; the flickering light made the hallway a bit spooky as the shadows stretched and "moved" in strange ways, and Arlo hoped nothing would choose this instant to jump out at them since he didn't think he'd trust his own vision at first.

"There we go..." he heard Selene mutter; he stayed facing away until he got a tap on the shoulder then turned as she began connecting plugs to the device she'd carried along in that duffel bag. Finally, with a faint whine and a whirring noise, the elevator's button panel came on -- it wasn't exactly impressive looking with its single button but the fact that it had lit up at all was heartening.

"All right. Now we get to see if the elevator can move." Selene dropped the goggles back into her bag and pushed the button. There was a quiet ding and the doors slid open, with a grinding noise sounding out at the last few inches before the doors slid into the wall and revealed the dimly lit car interior.

Selene carefully poked her head inside and looked to each side and even up at the ceiling, then pulled back to frown at Arlo. "-this only has buttons for floors below us, nothing above."

Arlo sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "I doubt there'd be only one elevator that goes up for a place this large. Maybe we can go down and find another one that links to the upper floors."

"As good a plan as any. It does sound like the humming is coming from below us so at the very least maybe we'll find that power source and can use that instead of having to wire and pray."

Selene carefully moved the duffel bag against the wall (the device powering the elevator was still tucked inside it) then picked up her toolbox and the flashlight, with Arlo picking up the other toolbox; they both stepped inside and Selene pushed the button for the next floor down.

The elevator groaned a bit then began to go down (slowly, as it was supposed to -- good to know they wouldn't be taking a fall of their own). "If we can't find another way up I can always run back to my shop and figure out a way to attach one of my spare motors to a pulley system -- actually, that'd probably be the easiest part. Harder part would be figuring out how to anchor it up at the top of the sinkhole."

"Let's see what we find first."

The elevator came to a surprisingly smooth stop and with a ding the doors slid open...to reveal that the outer doors on the floor's landing itself hadn't.

Selene huffed. "All right - guess that means this floor isn't powered."

Arlo let out a chuckle and tried to wedge his fingers into the gap between the doors; the door was rusted and didn't seem inclined to budge, and even with Selene shoving the claw end of a hammer into the space to try and help pry it open they couldn't manage it. Finally, with a shrug, they gave up and pressed the button for the next floor.

Again with a ding the doors slid open at the destination floor and to their surprise the outer doors did as well -- there were dim red emergency lights on in this hallway and Selene grinned at the sight of them.

"Now we're getting somewhere. Let's-"

Arlo held out a hand to stop her from leaving the elevator, and wordlessly pointed ahead of them.

This hallway was identical to the one they'd come from but ahead he could see one of the nearest doors was open, and sticking out of it laying on the floor was what looked like a skeletal hand.

Selene wrinkled her nose. "...at least it doesn't look recent?"

"Not promising. Stay close."

Arlo stepped from the elevator and carefully walked down the hall, keeping to the middle of the hallway and scanning ahead of them for any signs of trouble; when he got to the door with the hand he bent down and could barely make out an entire skeleton wrapped in ragged clothing attached to the hand on the other side of the door -- it looked like the person had collapsed and their arm had kept the door from sliding shut. After a moment he carefully shoved the door back into the wall and took the flashlight from Selene, shining it into the room.

This looked to be a dormitory room of some kind; he could see a bunk bed, a desk and chair, a computer terminal, and a small kitchen area attached to a larger sitting area off to his right. On the back wall was a door marked with a symbol he assumed meant bathroom and there were shelves and what looked like a closet door visible as well. Everything was coated in thick dust and along with books and things on the shelves there were small items here and there - coffee mugs, pens, some plates near the sink, the remnants of a jacket tossed over the back of the chair, a pair of shoes near the bunk...all small details confirming that this place had indeed been lived in by actual people.

There weren't any other skeletons inside, at least.

"Let's have a look down the hall but be careful - we don't know what killed this person."

They continued on; the hallway eventually dead-ended, and not at another elevator. None of the other doors were open and despite the red lights indicating some kind of power was running through this area they still couldn't get any of the doors to open (not that they could see how - there weren't any handles or panels on the outside that they could find).

"Maybe the next floor?"

"Guess we'll see."

They headed back to the elevator and went down to the next floor, and both Arlo and Selene gasped as the doors opened to reveal another red-lit hallway almost identical to the others save for the sheer number of skeletal remains scattered up and down its length.

"What in the world..."

Arlo took a few steps out onto the landing and shined his flashlight ahead. A few of the skeletons nearby looked to be wearing the remnants of some kind of body armor, and laying near at hand were long objects that vaguely resembled the rifle Selene had once shown him. There were a few other armored and armed skeletons further down the hall but the plainsclothed skeletons outnumbered them three to one. Their clothing, as it had rotted away, hadn't done much in the way of keeping the skeletons intact so most of them where just heaps of bones piled here and there, but several looked to have fallen in a way to suggest that these people had once been running both away from and toward the armed skeletons.

Selene moved past him and bent down near a pile of bones that must have, at one point, been two separate people; she carefully reached down and picked up a shattered skull -- there was a large and jagged hole through the temple area and the eye socket on that side had crumbled away.

"...what happened down here?"

"Something awful," Arlo replied, voice low. "Some kind of fight. The civilian-looking ones I can understand being dead - they look like they got gunned down. But I don't understand why there's the armed ones still here too...I don't see any weapons aside from the rifles."

Selene stood turned over one of the nearby helmets with her foot; there weren't any bullet holes or similar damage to it, and the matching armor also looked relatively intact aside from the ravages of time. "They don't look like they took any return fire, and it doesn't seem like they were here to protect everyone else from something."

"Let's...keep moving. It doesn't look like we'll find anything here." Arlo spun on a heel and returned to the elevator, waiting until Selene joined him before slapping the button for the next floor.

The next hallway was similar to the one they'd just left, just with fewer bodies in it. They didn't even bother leaving the elevator for that one and moved on to the final floor available from the elevator's panel.

When the doors opened they were shocked to find the area was fully lit -- harsh white lights glared overhead and the faint humming they'd heard up above was much louder down here. This floor's elevator doors opened to reveal a sort of sitting area; there were armchairs and a few small tables all falling apart with age, and several large pots that must have held plants at some point. The far wall looked to be made of frosted glass with a set of double doors (with handles, for once) in its middle; Selene walked to the glass and scrubbed a hand across it -- a faint glow from the room beyond this one peeked through the caked on dust.

"This floor is fully powered, I'd wager." She inhaled and exhaled slowly, then went to tug one of the doors open. It didn't move an inch, and still didn't move when she tried to push it open instead; she wrapped hands around the right door's handle and planted a foot on the left door for leverage in an effort to force it open, huffing and struggling as she tried to pull again.

Arlo watched her for a moment or two then walked over and tugged her back; he flipped the flashlight around and smashed the butt of it into the glass and the door immediately shattered.

"...one way to do it, I guess. But also a good way to set off any security systems."

"We've only seen skeletons so far - with the firefights above us I think we'd have seen traces of AI-based security measures by now if any of them had been active back then or were still active now." He tucked the flashlight back into his belt and carefully stepped through the frame of the door, being mindful to not brush up against its jagged sides.

Immediately noticeable about this next room was the abrupt temperature change -- it was much, much colder in here compared to the rest of the facility. This room was lit brightly and was a very spacious rectangular shape but the far right corner from where they stood had collapsed inward; dirt and stone had flowed in and piled around strange glass tube structures that reached from floor to ceiling. Each had wide metal rings around their tops and neat lines of insulated wires incorporated into the floor that were arranged in almost a sunburst pattern radiating from the bases of the tubes that all met at a large, blocky computer console situated on a dais on the wall to their left.

"What are those things..." It wasn't so much a question as Selene musing out loud, having stepped in through the broken door a few breaths after Arlo. "I've never seen or even heard of anything that looks like that."

Ceiling tiles and some of the lighting fixtures had fallen and left the floor something of a minefield of debris; Arlo picked his way across the room to get a better look at the glass tube things.

They were big enough to hold a man and he could count seven visible (based on how they were evenly arranged and on the wires running out of the cave in in the corner he assumed there were more of these things buried under all that dirt), and as he circled around one he came face to face with yet another skeleton - this one was falling out of the broken back half tube. Inside the tube Arlo could see more wires, a pair of fishhook-shaped padded metal prongs, and tubing that disappeared into the metal cuff that ringed the topmost "roof" of the tube.

All of the tube structures on the outermost row - the ones closest to the cave in - had all shattered, and their inhabitants were spilled out unceremoniously into the floor.

"Arlo..."

Arlo spun at Selene's call - she'd sounded unnerved and he'd half expected to have found the security measures she'd just chided him over but instead he saw her standing near the tube nearest the computer console. That one looked entirely intact and sported wide patches of frost across its glass; unlike the hallways above this room had just one skeleton in it (that wasn't falling from the tubes, anyway) which was splayed out on the floor at the base of this intact tube, with some sort of filtering mask slipping off the grinning skull. Selene was standing with the tube between her and the skeleton, and had her hands braced against the glass and her face pressed to her fingers, peering in at...whatever was inside, which from where Arlo stood looked to be nothing more than a substance the color of pea soup.

"What's wrong?"

"I think there's a body still IN this one."

Frowning he came over to stand next to her; the tube radiated cold and he could see smears where Selene had wiped away frost and grime off the glass surface. Selene shifted out of his way and Arlo bent to peer at the clean area she'd made -- there was a shadowy shape just barely visible through the liquid, and it DID look full and vaguely human-shaped.

"Awful..." he muttered, huffing out a sigh. "We'll have to figure out what to do with all these remains once we get Dawa back to the surface. We can't just leave them here now that we know about them."

"Yeah...they should be buried. It's only proper," Selene replied, backing away from the tube and its inhabitant. "All right, let me see about this computer. Maybe I can pull an old map of this place..."

Arlo stayed near the tube as Selene headed up the few steps that led to the computer; it both bothered and baffled him to have found all these skeletons and then an actual corpse presumably preserved in a tank of...goop.

"Hey - can you go check that door over there?"

"Hmm?" was his response as he tore his attention away from the tube. "Which door?"

"See that one over there?" Selene pointed and he followed the tip of her finger to spy a door on the same wall as the cave in -- the cave in hadn't quite reached it fully so if it was unlocked they could probably get it open, and wouldn't have to move much dirt to get through it.

He headed over to the door and again found it was one of those handleless ones, the same as the ones in the hallways above. "I don't see a way to open it."

"Let me see then... I pulled up a security log that has a bunch of locks listed but I don't know what goes to which door, hang on a second."

Arlo leaned his shoulder against the wall and rubbed his hands together - this room wasn't quite so cold as it was outside but it was still chilly. Leaning as he was he could see the whole room and could watch as Selene did whatever she was doing over on that ancient console, and then finally beside him in the wall he felt a vibration and heard a click. "Hey, I think that did it--"

He was interrupted by a booming, masculine sounding robotic voice that echoed through the room:

**ACTIVE USER DETECTED. AUXILIARY POWER AT 3%. EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS INITIATED: AWAKENING SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. PLEASE SUMMON MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO SURGICAL LAB 3948A9-Z1.**

The door beside him slid open unnoticed as now Arlo, in full alert mode, scanned the room. "What the heck was that? What did you do?"

Selene still stood at the console, frozen in place. "I didn't do anything! I mean I did SOMETHING but it was just unlocking the doors the system would allow me to unlock! I didn't tell it to initiate whatever it was it just said it was doing!"

There was a rumble in the ceiling followed by an incredibly loud hissing noise as all the tubes - both the broken ones and the single intact one - all began blowing air out of the top metal rings as previously unseen vents all slid open together. Barely audible over the hissing was a grinding noise as small sections of the floors slid open at the base of the tubes revealing drains -- the one intact tube began to dump the green fluid inside it, which was a lot less thick than it had seemed while it was still inside the glass, and the fluid flowed neatly down into the revealed drains.

Arlo watched with a sort of nervous fascination as the tube steadily emptied, and the more it emptied the more of the body it held was revealed.

First there was the crown of the head - its brown hair clung to the head as the fluid drained, and the person's face was barely visible through the mess of diodes, sensors, and a breathing mask secured to their face. Soon the shoulders were visible and Arlo could see how the person was hung by the armpits from the hooks; breasts and then the entire torso were revealed, all just as covered with sensors as the head, and then finally he could see legs then bare feet.

With a shrill beeping the hooks inside the tube lowered several inches to place the woman's feet on the floor inside the enclosure, then the glass began to lift up and slot into the ceiling. As the tube lifted the sensors and diodes across the body were yanked loose and left to hang in tangles; Arlo found himself moving toward the tube and its inhabitant without really realizing it, accidentally kicking a foot into the skeleton that lay there and sending bones scattering across the floor. Selene must have started moving at the same time as they both reached the tube together to catch the limp body as the parts looped under the arms suddenly gave way and dumped the woman out.

Whatever the green fluid had been had left an oily, slick residue all over the woman's skin, and even with the two of them reaching out to grab her as she fell they still only managed to keep the head from slamming into the floor.

"What the heck-"

Arlo fumbled to get his hands under the woman's armpits. "Come on, lay her down-"

"Lay her down WHERE? There's broken glass all over the place."

"Computer?"

"Maybe."

They carefully made their way over to the dais the computer console sat on, struggling to keep hold on the body that was slicker than anything they'd ever encountered.

Once they had the woman carefully laid out on the narrow bit of walkspace behind the console Arlo and Selene stared at one another wordlessly. Neither had expected to have a corpse pop out of a tube of goo today, and he absently scrubbed his hands against his thighs and tried not to think about how the fluid on his hands felt a lot like runny snot against his skin.

"-oh man. Arlo - I think she's breathing."

Selene pointed a shaky finger down at the woman; he dropped his glance but looked away just as quickly - the woman was completely nude and he couldn't bring himself to look too closely at her if there was a chance she... He sucked in a breath and dropped down to press fingers to her pulse point at the neck.

...and yes, that was a pulse. Somehow, this woman's heart was still beating.

"She's alive." He yanked his coat off and began to awkwardly wind it around the woman's upper half; a moment later Selene had hers off too and was trying to get the sleeves tied around the woman's waist.

"What do we do?"

"We need to -- first, we need to get out of here since it's cold and she's soaked. We left Dr. Xu at the top of the shaft with Sam. I say we backtrack to Dawa and Remington and get Xu down here ASAP. He can check her out, we can use those blankets to get her dry, and then we uh--" He stopped and looked around - there was that one door Selene had managed to get unlocked and open but now with an unconscious woman... "-then YOU go and get a motor and winch. No more searching for elevators."

With the pair of jackets forming a barrier between his hands and the slippery green gunk Arlo was able to pick the woman up and follow along behind Selene who in turn picked up the flashlight and tool boxes and led the way back to the elevator. It was a bit tricky to maneuver himself and the woman through the broken door, especially when the lights in the room flickered and abruptly died and momentarily left Arlo balancing awkwardly within the door's frame in total darkness while Selene fumbled for the flashlight so they could see their way back to the elevator.

'What a day this turned out to be...'


	3. Chapter 3

That night he'd left Sam and Remington to guard the sinkhole and had helped Xu get Dawa and the unconscious woman back to the clinic. Dawa was cleaned up, shown how to wrap his badly sprained ankle, given some painkillers, and was released; the woman was still unconscious when Arlo stopped by the following morning -- Xu assured him that the woman seemed healthy enough but that he'd have to monitor her closely since there was no telling how she'd been kept alive for so long inside that tube or what that preservation might have done to her. 

Arlo had a nagging curiosity about the woman - and who wouldn't? The realization had hit him as he was dressing that morning that they'd just pulled a woman out of an Old World facility, who might actually BE from the Old World herself. That was huge. It wasn't even something he'd have believed if he hadn't personally witnessed it himself. Who she was, what year she'd come from, how she'd ended up down there...all of those were questions he knew he needed answers for but first he'd have to wait for her to wake up and recover and then hope it wouldn't be too overwhelming for her to find herself in a completely different time period.

It was just one more thing on his mind as he walked out to the sinkhole with Selene and Higgins both in tow; he'd had to firmly put his foot down once already and none-too-politely tell Higgins he wasn't allowed down into the facility without a Civil Corps escort unless he wanted to be locked up until his shop fell off the leader boards entirely. Higgins had a tendency to "be the best" at the expense of everything and everyone else, and Arlo could absolutely see the man attempting to sneak down into the ruins to claim all the "best" stuff for himself and selfishly hoard things out of the reach of the Research Center and the other builders in Portia. He'd not mentioned the woman to Higgins yet but it had occurred to him, on the walk out there, that their mystery woman might actually have personal property down in that facility, and that if anyone had a claim to anything out of there it'd be her. 

The minor hitch with that thought was since Arlo hadn't mentioned the woman yet and probably shouldn't mention her until Gale made an announcement...until Arlo could definitively say "this absolutely does not belong to you" he knew Higgins would probably think it'd be worth it to try and risk sneaking in. 

With that in mind his misgivings about bringing Higgins along doubled but...unfortunately Selene couldn't handle a job of this magnitude on her own in a quick enough manner for Gale's liking, and while Arlo even had doubts that Higgins would wait long enough for them to get the skeletons out before he tried taking anything the more pressing matter was making sure that sinkhole didn't get any bigger or further damage the facility and risk something leaking out into their water supply (again). To do that quickly they'd need the man's help...there just wasn't any way around it.

Up ahead the bright red tent Remington had set up stood out against the snow and served as a beacon for them between the trees. They all carried rope and tools, and Selene had measuring equipment and an old metal detector she'd cobbled together with the Research Center's help; once they'd taken some measurements and more closely examined the shaft they'd have Dana give her recommendations on how best to reinforce everything (on the basis that the elevator shaft wasn't too different from a mining shaft and if anyone would know how to shore up crumbling dirt walls it'd be her).

In front of the tent was a sizeable bonfire burning away, and as they approached Remington came out of the tent.

"How was your night?"

"Not too bad, actually. Set that little alarm clock to go off every couple of hours and Sam and I swapped off to keep the fire going," Remington grinned. "Planted the tent off to the side and all the heat came right in while the smoke blew by."

Arlo nodded; he'd felt bad that they'd had to stay out in the elements all night but then again, thinking back to his doubts about Higgins... "Good to know. I'll be taking tonight's post. Did you see anyone?"

"Not a soul."

"Good." He turned to Selene and Higgins then. "Selene's already been down there, and I've already briefed you on what to expect," he said, directing that to Higgins. "We're not constructing anything today - all Gale wants us to focus on today is assessing and then taking those assessments to Dana to create a plan. Any questions?"

Both builders shook their heads, and Arlo led them over to the tied off rope that was now connected to a motorized winch and pulley system staked in the ground with big iron rail spikes; Remington must have been busy overnight as there were now four sets of makeshift rope harnesses hanging from the lowest branches of the tree the rope system was connected to.

"The motor can handle two at a time," Selene said as she inspected one of the harnesses. "-you know, if you don't mind being face to face, back to back, or face to whatever with someone in close quarters."

"One at a time sounds fine," came Sam's voice from behind them, her tone as dry as the desert; she headed over to slip on a harness as the others chuckled and readied themselves to head down.

\-----------------------------------------------

He needed to make a quick trip back into town before camping out for the night and on his way in Arlo stopped at the clinic again.

"How is she?"

Xu looked up from a pile of papers on his desk. "Well, the vitals I'm getting are getting stronger. She's surprisingly not too dehydrated and while there's some signs of muscle atrophy it's not debilitatingly so. There's some skin break down and irritation where all those wires and things were glued on, and..." he paused, tapping the end of his pen on the table. "Well. I shouldn't speculate. She does have some very strange scarring patterns but I'll wait until she wakes to discuss their origin with her."

Arlo glanced over to the bed in the corner that held the woman; her hair was dry and someone had loosely pulled it into a ponytail just over her left shoulder - Phyllis was there silently taking the woman's pulse and recording it on a clipboard in hand. 

The woman looked as pale as the white hospital gown she now wore and could have easily been mistaken for a wax statue if he didn't already know she was a living, breathing person. "Keep us posted, and keep this quiet as well - and that's by Gale's orders."

"Oh I know, he's already been by. In fact, he told me to bar entry to anyone that wasn't you and the Corps, Phyllis, or himself -- with an exception for those sick and injured, of course, but then I think the screen is enough to keep her from view." Xu chuckled and swept up the papers, beginning to tap them on the table to even them out into a neat stack - Arlo noticed the topmost page had two cartoonish outline drawings of a female body, front and back, and Xu had made markings across the halves. "Even if he hadn't I don't think I'd be telling anyone anyway. They'd probably think I'd lost my mind."

Arlo nodded. "If I hadn't been there myself I wouldn't believe it either." With that he left the clinic and headed further into town; once he had stocked up on food, bought another long-sleeved undershirt, new liners for his boots, and had stopped by his room to grab a whetstone he trekked back out for his turn at keeping watch over the sinkhole.

\----------------------------------------------

With such an unusual situation and a patient that was both a delicate case and also not an alarming concern Xu had brought over pillows and blankets from his home and packed a dinner and breakfast for himself. The floor of his clinic wasn't all that comfortable but at the very least if all he did was lightly doze then he'd hear every little noise in the room and could respond immediately if the woman took a sudden turn for the worse.

Or, as it happened, if she happened to wake up.

The change in her breathing pattern was very slight - barely more than a pause and a quiet gasp - but in the silent room it stood out to his practiced ears, and in an instant he was flinging blankets aside to get on his feet and over to her bed.

Her eyes were open but unfocused and she didn't seem to notice him appearing beside her even when he flipped on the lamp at the head of her bed; when he waved a hand within her line of sight she flinched and sank further into her pillows.

"Hello there - can you hear me? My name is Dr. Xu."

Her eyelids fluttered -- he knew then that this sudden bout of consciousness wasn't going to last long. Carefully he reached out to take her pulse, and her head on the pillow slowly turned in his direction.

"Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"

A few garbled noises came out of her then right as she slipped back into unconsciousness Xu swore he heard at least one word that sounded like 'Elizabeth.' 

He remained standing there for some time, taking her pulse at regular intervals and monitoring as it returned to normal levels. When she was back to her baseline vital readings he turned the lamp off and headed back to his desk, taking up his pen and writing Elizabeth across the top of the woman's file.

\----------------------------------------------

The temperature was slowly warming as the days passed -- it was still definitely cold (it WAS winter after all) but the frigid front that had brought that monster storm with it had long since moved on and Portia was gradually returning to a more normal winter temperature range.

This was, of course, a double edged sword, especially out near the sinkhole; the mud was only getting deeper the more everything thawed out and it was starting to make it a bit dangerous to get anywhere near the lip of the hole. Selene was already drawing up plans to build an anchored platform around the sinkhole, leaving Higgins the bulk of the work when it came to making the support beams and cross braces for the shaft. The two of them (after Arlo had 'gently' persuaded Higgins to act like a team member) had managed to outsource some of the minor parts to the smaller shops in town and yet even with five builder's shops working together it was still going to be a week or two before the shaft was shored up and the platform built.

Arlo felt thankful (and a bit guilty that he felt thankful) that tonight wasn't his turn to take the overnight watch as he waded back into town, coated in mud to his knees and wanting little more than a meal and a bath but, as he did each time he came back in after a watch, he went to the clinic first.

Phyllis greeted him as he came through the door, then somewhat awkwardly asked him to wipe his feet -- not that that would do much but it did get the point across that it would be appreciated if he wouldn't track mud in beyond the door. From the doorway he couldn't see the bed behind the screen but he could see the back half of Dr. Xu, and could hear a quiet conversation going on back there in the corner.

'Does that mean she's awake?'

Phyllis walked over to Xu and placed a hand on his shoulder; Xu leaned his head back enough to peer around the edge of the screen to look over at Arlo at the door. After a moment (it seemed like he'd shuffled something from hand to hand) Xu flashed Arlo a confirming gesture -- everything was all right.

He also assumed that meant that yes, the woman was awake. That also probably meant that now wasn't the time to intrude.

Arlo gave Xu a quick nod in return and left the clinic, plodding from its doorway over to the Corps building. Sam was inside "sparring" with the training dummy and stopped when he entered, looking him up and down.

"Wow."

"Yeah. The mud is getting worse. Selene's going to put a platform up for us to work off of before we all sink up to our eyelids in it."

He'd been hoping the Corps building would be empty (he wanted to strip his boots and pants off right there, but wouldn't do that in front of Sam) so he settled for kicking off his boots and very carefully tiptoeing across the room to his bedroom, doing his best not to shed too much mud as he went. Once inside his quarters he stood on an old throw rug and stripped down, leaving the muddy clothing in a heap on the rug. His legs were cold, clammy, and red.

"-Sam, could you get me a bucket of water?"

He heard a muffled acknowledgement; while he waited he rubbed a towel up and down his legs, working warmth and feeling back into them. Soon there was a single knock at his door and when he cracked it open there was the requested bucket of water and he could just see Sam's back disappearing out the front door - Remington was out there now for the rest of the afternoon and soon Sam would be relieving him for the overnight post.

He brought the bucket inside and sat it next to the table he used as a desk; after retrieving the old bristled brush he kept in his wardrobe he began to attack his boots and get the worst of the mud off his pants. The water was looking pretty grim by the time he was done and finally Arlo tossed the soaked pants over the banister of the stairs at his door and left the boots tucked under the stairs before moving to get dressed in clean clothes. His stomach was making it very clear it was time for a meal and after hours of being out in the cold he was thinking a plate of spaghetti drenched in hot sauce was in order.

\----------------------------------

She'd asked him to call her Eli and Dr. Xu was happy to oblige - honestly he was just happy she'd awakened and actually stayed awake for more than a few passing moments while seeming alert and roughly aware of where she was.

Talking was difficult for her so he was careful to phrase everything in 'yes' or 'no' questions so she could nod or shake her head and despite the initial awkwardness of her struggle to form words and his struggle to boil his thought processes down into only two variables they were able to get a few tidbits of information across.

He'd learned she was Elizabeth Summers, and preferred to go by Eli. She wasn't in any pain. She hadn't been aware of the scarring across her body until Xu had brought it to her attention.

Perhaps more importantly she'd communicated she was a Dubei native...if he'd had any doubts about what time period she'd come from that certainly settled them.

Being as she couldn't quite carry on a conversation Xu decided against trying to broach the subject of where and when she was now; after his quick questioning session she'd drifted back to sleep and he went back to his desk to record all the details he'd gotten while Phyllis hovered at his elbow.

To be honest Xu had had doubts she would know anything about her scarring; in a way it was probably for the best as what it LOOKED like pointed to a rather horrific origin. 

Namely, it looked like parts of her had been sewn back together.

Both arms had long lines of scars, of various lengths, up and down from shoulder to wrist, with circular scars at the shoulder and across every finger joint -- they were reddish pink lines with tiny dots beside them reminiscent of suture marks. These same sorts of scars were also along her chin and jawline on the right side, her lower ribcage area, and down her left leg. It brought to mind something like a ragdoll's stitching, though more precise and tidy than one would find on a children's toy.

Considering her origin and what he was seeing on her body he had a theory that she'd suffered some sort of terrible trauma and that facility she'd been found in had been some sort of medical center, and it amazed him to think that the Old World had had such technology that they could seemingly stitch a person back together and have that person survive the ordeal (much less survive for 300 years afterward!)

He would need to have a talk with the Research Center, the Civil Corps, and the builders of Portia - if that truly was a medical center down there then the place shouldn't be torn apart willy nilly. Maybe with this woman's help they could identify medical equipment that they could still use or replicate...just the thought of being able to reclaim even a fraction of the medical knowledge and tools of the Old World had Xu nearly vibrating in excitement.

One day at a time, however. The first step would be getting Elizabeth healthy again, without causing her undue suffering when it came time to gently break it to her that she was 300 years outside of her time period and there was no returning to the world she'd once known.

\------------------------------------------------------

Together the five builders that called Portia home managed to get all the bits and pieces crafted and in place for the sinkhole.

They'd gotten the platform up around the perimeter of the sinkhole first and had created a dual-motor system that raised and lowered an improvised elevator car that was open on two sides (so they could access the doors on either side of the shaft without adding too many moving parts for the power stones to handle) and had rubber wheels mounted on the two walls to keep it steady inside the shaft since it was a slimmer car compared to the original one they'd found (and dismantled) at the bottom. Cutting all those vines free had taken an entire day on its own but it had been worth it now that they could move up and down the shaft as needed via a system of levers at the top, bottom, and also one within the elevator car itself.

The walls were now secured with heavy wooden and steel beams and metal plating that would hopefully keep the dirt walls of the upper half from crumbling further; once that had been completed they'd moved on to attempting to rewire doors to allow access into the upper levels of the facility to check for more remains -- the second thing on Gale's list had been getting an approximate "head count" for how many graves they would need to dig. Arlo had a sinking feeling they'd need a lot more space than Gale was expecting - probably more than they had room for in Portia's graveyard - and he suspected that they may have to dig a mass grave when it came down to it. Petra and Merlin were eager to examine and study the facility and had expressed hope that the computers were intact enough to maybe pull a staffing roster but even if they could how would they match names to skeletons? A mass grave with a tombstone bearing whatever names they could find would probably be the best they could manage.

Tonight had been his night to keep watch; he was debating whether to build the fire back up or leave it for the others to decide as the sun was beginning to peek over the hills when he spied Remington heading out toward him -- seems the time to switch out was just about here, and if Remington was already on his way then Selene and the others wouldn't be too far behind.

He grabbed a light breakfast at Django's and headed back up the hill intending to go to his room and catch a couple hours of sleep but found himself pausing to look to the clinic -- Xu had mentioned the woman had awakened a few times but each time Arlo had checked in she was asleep still. Should he check in again? It was more for his own curiosity than anything else as he had no ties to her (though, he didn't need to be her friend to worry about her health he supposed) but maybe there was a point where his constant checking would be intrusive...

Arlo's train of thought was interrupted as the clinic doors slid open and Xu walked out; the doctor saw him standing there halfway between the clinic and the Corps building and offered him a quick wave.

"Good morning, Arlo."

"Morning. How's your patient?"

"Doing well. Getting stronger, staying awake for longer periods. I'm actually off to Carol's to see about clothing for her since I'll need to have her up and walking soon to start building those muscles up. -- oh, and have you seen Selene leave yet? I may need crutches or a cane to assist Elizabeth in the short term as she gets her legs back under her."

Elizabeth? That must be the woman's name. "I haven't, but if you hurry you might catch her before she gets too far out. If you don't manage to catch her let me know and I'll tell her when I go back out to the sinkhole later today."

"I will, thanks. Have a good morning."

"You too."

As Xu's steps turned toward the ramp that led down to the plaza Arlo finally headed in to the Corps building; it was quiet and he was yawning his head off as he plodded down the stairs into his room. One of those tin alarm clocks that seemingly everyone in Portia had was sitting on table near his bed and he set an alarm for two hours from now -- he knew if he wasn't careful with how long he slept now he wouldn't sleep properly tonight.

As he kicked off his boots he wondered what this Elizabeth was like - hopefully language and dialects hadn't changed too much in 300 years, and he did sincerely hope it hadn't been too soul wrenching to wake to a completely different world. The more he tried to think about how that might feel the less he could picture it, and rather than get himself worked up over it he fell into bed and tried to empty his mind -- he could theorize and think all he wanted when he was actually rested enough TO think.

\--------------------------------------------------

It was nearly a month after finding Elizabeth before Arlo actually got to speak to her.

Work in the ruins was still ongoing -- each time they opened a new door or found a new floor they found more remains; they were up to 96 skeletons so far and assumed they were only going to find more the further in they went. Gale had marked out an area along the city wall across from Sophia's farm as the place for the mass grave they'd need, and was merely waiting to hear how many bodies were going into it before he commissioned the gravestone. 

The facility was one giant maze and Higgins and Selene were both working overtime to keep churning out electrical systems to handle things short-term while they continued to search for where the power source in the lower level had been; Selene was convinced that if they could find where it was, even if it was depleted, they could use that as a main focal point to work from instead of having dozens of smaller power devices scattered everywhere.

As usual on the mornings after finishing the overnight watch Arlo came in to town for breakfast at Django's and then was returning to his room to sleep when he found Dr. Xu, Phyllis, and Elizabeth outside the clinic; the woman had a cane in hand - it was made of metal tubing with a rubber-padded handle, and was painted a pastel orange color, and was flanked by Xu and Phyllis as she took a few hesitant steps beyond the door. She was in a heavy coat that hung open and Arlo could see a soft yellow sweater and a colorful shawl beneath it and had on a pair of cargo pants and a pair of work boots with thick soles with her hair brushed back from her face and gathered at her neck with a wide black barette.

The woman's bright blue eyes were sizing him up as he came into view, and when Xu noticed him he waved him over. "Arlo, would you care to meet Eli?"

"You're Arlo?" Elizabeth asked as he came over. "I'm told you're the one who hauled me out of the ruins. I owe you one."

"Not at all - protecting Portia and her residents is my job, no one owes me for anything," he said, coming to a stop a few feet away.

She moved the cane to her left hand and offered her now-free right hand. "Elizabeth Summers. Call me Eli."

He shook the offered hand. "Pleased to meet you, finally. It's good to see you're on your feet."

"Technically, yes," she said, smiling faintly. "It's going to be awhile before I'm back to normal. I haven't been this thin since I was in high school."

He wasn't entirely sure what a high school was beyond some sort of educational institute but nodded all the same. "Take it one day at a time. There's no sense in rushing a recovery."

"No sense and no means to." She shifted the cane back to her right hand. "I know the first thing I need to do though is get a full accounting of what happened: how you found me, how you got me out, and what that facility looks like and where it is. I also need to get in there ASAP."

"I can provide all that, no problem." Arlo looked to Xu as he spoke and the doctor was silently shaking his head at him. "-I think it may be awhile before we can take you in, though."

"I don't care if you have to strap me to your back and carry me in, I NEED to get in there. The little bit the good doctor here told me has me concerned about the facility's power source -- if it's thermal we should be fine, but if it's nuclear I absolutely need to get in there and check on it."

"...nuclear?" Arlo repeated, brows furrowing. "What's that?"

"Nothing good, if it's damaged."

"What happens if it's...nuclear?" Phyllis broke in. She said 'nuclear' slowly, like she was testing out how the word sounded on her tongue.

Eli paused, biting her lower lip again. "...right, so I want to preface this with the fact that I'm not meaning to cause a panic, but nuclear is...uh... I don't even know how to explain it clearly since it seems like so much technology has been lost - I don't think you'll have even the basic terminology knowledge needed to grasp it. So, basically - nuclear is a power source that, if stable, lasts for hundreds of years. The reactor - the central source of the nuclear power - can meltdown and explode to varying degrees of severity if its been damaged and the explosion can poison the land and any person the debris - called 'fallout' - comes in contact with. Even a small explosion could render this entire region unlivable for generations."

Arlo's eyes widened at that - like they needed something ELSE to worry about. "It's that dangerous?"

"Technically, yes. Depends on IF the reactor was damaged and HOW it was damaged - we built these things to last but knew it wasn't impossible for them to suffer some sort of damage or failure. They all have hundreds of layers of safety measures in place to help prevent a meltdown but Dr. Xu mentioned the warning you got about auxiliary power which means the main reactor isn't powering what's left in that place -- if we're lucky it'll just be the condu- the uh, the wires, I mean - have lost connection somewhere and the reactor is fine. That's best case scenario. The worst case is the reactor was damaged, the aux power being out means the safety measures won't be active, and we might have a volatile situation on hand." After that Eli huffed out a heavy sigh. "I'm praying that Fate says it's just the wiring or that the place is deep enough it won't matter either way but I won't know until I get in there." 

Arlo looked wordlessly to Xu and Phyllis; Phyllis looked sick to her stomach and Xu seemed deep in thought. He looked back to Eli. "-how strong do you feel right now?"

"Tired, a little noodly in the knees, but considering the circumstances it could be worse. This is something that can't wait."

Arlo nodded, and turned his attention to Xu again. "I don't think we have a choice, Dr. Xu. We can ride her out there on horseback then I can carry her down again, or Remington or Sam could. Is Eli cleared to leave the clinic yet?"

"Truthfully I don't want her out of my care just yet. But if things could get that dire then you're right that we have no choice." Xu rubbed his chin. "Let's see how you manage walking today - how long your legs can hold you. We'll use that as a baseline and keep a close eye on you tomorrow to make sure you don't push yourself beyond your limits."

Eli gave Xu a small smile. "I know where my limits used to be and where they are now, doctor. And those lines change when lives are on the line."

Xu nodded, seemingly satisfied or at least not against the sentiment. "All right then. Tomorrow morning we'll make the trek regardless, I guess." His gaze moved over to the small stables that was attached to the side of the Corps building. "Am I correct to assume that the Civil Corps will provide the horse?"

"She can ride either Spacer or Arrow. Teddy doesn't really tolerate anyone but Sam on his back."

"Seems we have a plan then." Xu turned slightly and placed a gentle hand on Phyllis's and Eli's shoulders. "Phyllis, go ahead with the planned exercises for today. I need to check in with the mayor and update him on Eli's progress, and I'll also let him know about our little...um. Problem."

"Of course, Dr. Xu," Phyllis said with a nod. She stepped around him and gestured for Eli to follow her, and as the two slowly made their way toward the plaza Arlo heard a quiet "let me know if you need to stop" from her before they were both too far away to overhear.

Xu watched them a moment then scratched at his head. "She's handling this far better than I was expecting. It actually has me MORE worried than I was before."

"Howso?"

The doctor watched the two women for a few moments before responding. "She's shown remarkable resilience in accepting that she's 300 years in the future as well as--" he stopped abruptly, then continued on. "It hardly seemed to faze her, in fact. I don't like that one bit...I feel as though she's suppressing her reaction, maybe supplanting it with her concern over the facility and reactor. I'd much rather see some sort of remorse, or fear, or...or, really, any reaction other than calm acceptance." After a pause he looked to Arlo. "It sounds silly to want to see proof of some sort of emotional pain - no one should want to see someone else suffering - but in this case I worry about the underlying effect on her mental health if she really is refusing to consider or accept how she may actually be feeling about all this."

Arlo mulled that over for a moment; it was never a good thing to bottle things up for too long - such thoughts eventually ate away at you until you exploded like a shaken drink. "I understand, I think. And maybe she's just not ready to really let it sink in. The reactor could just be a convenient thing to think about instead."

Xu sighed, nodding, then shook himself and fixed Arlo with a firm look. "I trust I don't need to impress upon you the importance of not sharing this with anyone?"

"Of course not. I've not said a word to anyone, nor will I."

"Good. I realize I really shouldn't be sharing her details with anyone, as they are quite personal, but being as you directly brought her into my care I feel your perspective may help my own. Especially since you personally saw where she was, what she came out of, and what it's like down in that facility. Your recounting of all of that has given me some insight on how to handle her trauma when it comes to the surface, and I do appreciate it."

Arlo nodded. "It's not a problem at all, and I'll admit hearing how she's doing means I worry less. I can't imagine what it might've been like down in that tube...it'd be awful if she was aware the entire time she was down there."

"True...but then again, maybe that's why she isn't traumatized now. She'd have had 300 years to consider her situation and come to terms with it."

"Maybe, but could you imagine the boredom once she had?"

With a quiet chuckle Xu took a few steps away. "I should get going. Tomorrow morning will come a lot sooner than it seems."

Arlo gave him a little wave as Xu turned to follow after Phyllis and Eli.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Dr. Xu and Eli were already waiting for Arlo and Sam outside the Corps building; the initial plan had been to put Eli on Spacer and then walk out together but Eli had assured them she knew how to ride so they'd changed to Eli on Spacer, Arlo and Xu on Arrow, and Sam on Teddy, with the group heading out together with everyone mounted.

And she did seem comfortable enough on Spacer's back so they'd sped up to a light trot; with everyone mounted and out of the mud they were actually making good time in getting out to the sinkhole.

"Was horseback riding a popular hobby, in the Old World?"

There was a pause before Eli answered Xu. "For some. For me it was just part of training."

Sam, at the head of their little procession, turned to look back at her curiously. "Training? For what?"

"Armed forces."

Arlo blinked. "Armed forces? You're a soldier?"

"Was, am, still will be. I am one of thirty seven 3-star gold rank Ranger Captains - the only person higher in the chain of command in the Ranger division is the Ranger General. The Rangers of Dubei were one specialized arm of the Dubei Armed Forces, our partner division was Spec Ops. Then you had your various rank and file for air, land, and sea, and we all answered to the High General of Dubei."

Arlo heard a very quiet 'that explains a few things...' from Xu sitting behind him. "I see. Did the Dubei army ride horses a lot then?"

"Not the army in general - the Rangers did though, Spec Ops too. We were the ones expected to be ready for anything so we were taught a lot of skills that most people assumed couldn't possibly be useful. Such as riding a horse when there were thousands of different types of personal and multiperson flying or motorized craft available."

"Were you in the war that-" Sam stopped abruptly, gaze flicking to Arlo and Xu. Xu was making a 'cut it out' gesture as he leaned around Arlo to be seen. "-nevermind."

Eli snorted. "Was I IN a war? Probably. We'd been having unrest and diplomatic breakdowns for about three years, last I remember. It was one of those unofficial deals -- everyone was doing warlike things, but no one dared declare it a war. Not yet." 

"DID they call it a war, ever?"

Eli was silent for a long period of time; they were almost up to the familiar red tent at the platform's edge when she finally answered. "I remember my post being shelled. If that didn't get called out for open warfare I don't know what would've been."

When they were at the tent they all dismounted, with Sam helping lift Eli down; with the horses tied to a nearby tree they made their way onto the platform and there Eli paused, shielding her eyes against the sun as she slowly (and carefully) spun in place and scanned their surroundings.

"Not even the cliffs..." she muttered, huffing out a sigh that sounded more annoyed than anything else.

"What about the cliffs?"

Eli slowly began making her way to the elevator car. "I said, not even the cliffs look familiar. I was hoping I'd recognize SOMETHING out here...anything, really. I can't for the life of me see anything of Dubei in what's left. Even the ruins that're mostly intact -- I can recognize WHAT they were but not WHERE they were in Dubei." She paused, then gave them a strained smile. "Not surprising, I guess -- Dubei was huge. Portia's nothing at all like it."

"How big was Dubei?" Sam asked, stepping into the car.

Eli followed her in and as the elevator began to lower Arlo heard her answer "um...big. Millions big" and then they were out of sight on their way to the bottom of the shaft.

Arlo looked to Xu, and then to Selene as she came out of the tent weighed down with two toolboxes and two duffel bags across her chest and back. "We ready?"

Xu nodded; Arlo took one toolbox and one of the (extremely heavy) duffel bags, and waited for the elevator to come back up.

\------------------------------------------

_Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it._

It was a mantra running through her head -- one that was familiar, that had been taught to her a long time ago-

_Don't think about it._

-that had popped up over and over across all the training it had taken to rise to the rank she carried.

Don't think about it. In those lessons, "it" was whatever was not immediately crucial to the mission.

That this world wasn't her own wasn't crucial. The fact Dubei was...gone, wiped off the map without a trace, wasn't crucial. Nothing was familiar, everything was new and wrong and wholly alien to her, but these facts were not crucial to the mission. 

They didn't matter right now.

Her mission as it stood was:

\- get to the heart of this facility and see what power system was installed  
\- determine the extent of damage done and calculate probability of a total system meltdown  
\- corollary to above: determine level of danger to facility and surrounding area should total system failure occur  
\- create plan of repair if repair is possible  
\- if repair is not possible, figure out how to fully and properly shut down the equipment and de-couple it from the system as a whole and disable it enough that it can't be turned on again  
\- adapt as needed

There were many details that were up in the air -- did this time period even have the tools needed to do any of the steps she'd mentally laid out? Rangers were taught to adapt at any cost but adapation had its limits; if there wasn't any tool remotely similar to what she'd need to detach conduits or activate the safety measures or repair a damn reactor then she couldn't just 'adapt' a suitable tool out of thin air, and this time period may not have the infrastructure in place to try to recreate one.

Were there any AIs left down here? Based on the time-ravaged halls they were walking down it didn't look likely...where had the AIs gone? Why had her people taken the AIs but left their dead behind?

Yes, she knew about the skeletal remains in the halls these Civil Corps folks were keeping her away from (not that it mattered - Eli knew nothing immediately important would be found in the office or dorm areas). If anyone would have the details on this facility and how to stave off a reactor meltdown, it would be an AI - either one of the assistants or even the installed All Source, if it was still here.

_Don't think about it._

What had happened here was a mystery she'd need to work on, secondary to securing the reactor. Additionally, what this place WAS was a mystery needing solving - if she knew what this facility was for and why she was down here that would answer a few personal questions she had.

_Don't think about it._

She had to stop and rest several times, bracing her cane against the wall and leaning her backside into it like a tall, terrible stool. To be this weak and unreliable in a situation like this irked her -- she'd never been one who needed to be carried or coddled, not even as a child. Her mother liked to say she came out of the womb at a sprint and never sat down since; she'd love to be sprinting right now, or at least capable of walking ten feet without getting winded or weak in the knees.

_Don't think about it._

\---------------------------------------------

"I'm not sure which building this was because I'm not sure where we are, locationally, within Dubei, but I do know Dubei itself had at least 1763 hospitals and that's not accounting for specialized facilities, long-term care, rehabs, or anything else that wasn't considered general or acute care."

"Really?" Xu asked, looking amazed. "The entire Alliance doesn't even have that many between them."

Eli shrugged and waited patiently as Arlo, Xu, Selene, and Sam stepped out of the elevator ahead of her; all of them carried either a flashlight or wore a small headlamp (Eli had a headlamp herself) and the two Civil Corps members led the way to a shattered glass door across the room from the elevator's opening. "Dubei had a population of 2.7 million if you counted all the outlying suburbs and territories. With that many people you have to have enough places for folks to go. No amount of peaceful times can keep you from getting sick or old, and the human body has quite a number of failure points even if you're at the pinnacle of healthy."

Arlo stepped through the door and aside to let the other three through, then offered Eli a steadying hand as she picked her way over the broken glass in the floor. "Were hospitals normally underground like this?"

"No," was Eli's simple reply. "But I never said this WAS a hospital."

"You sure sounded like you were implying it."

"It's a possibility but not a definitive fact at this time," Eli sighed. "The only facilities that tended to be underground were research facilities. Being underground shielded delicate equipment from outside interference. We might be in the underbelly of an especially large hospital, or we might be in a research center. Neither is more likely than the other at the moment."

Ahead of her Sam and Arlo kicked away broken glass and twisted metal left over from the light fixtures that had fallen from the ceiling; it wasn't entirely needed but the gesture was appreciated all the same as she followed in their wake and walked up to the lone console she could see in the light of their flashlights. 

"Did you bring a power source?"

Selene nodded. "Yep. I brought four, in fact."

"Good. I can already tell we'll need in that center panel there but let me get a look at what else we're working with."

As Selene began digging for the right sized wrench to start removing bolts from the panel Eli eyed the computer console from where she stood; it was rectangular in shape but slightly curved, came up to a little taller than her waist, and was covered in buttons, dials, a few wide slots and some sockets, a single lever whose head could fit into her palm, the grill of a speaker, and a pair of keyboards on either end. The console was long enough to fit four people, five if they stood shoulder to shoulder. 

Pretty standard really, aside from the fact she didn't see any displays or monitors nor did she see where they might have been if they HAD been here and had since been removed. The slots she could see suggested that, for this room at least, they might have relied entirely on the portable displays (both portable screens as well as self-contained computer units). It was a lot more efficient to carry copies of your work around on a personal computer where you could later connect to the main system to update the files either in the database or update things on your screen rather than be tied to a stationary console -- the problem was Eli doubted they'd have any chance at all at finding a still-functional screen after all this time, which would leave them reliant on verbal communication with the AI system (assuming THAT was even functional, and she wasn't holding her breath).

With a grunt Selene popped the panel loose and Eli moved her attention to the woman and the revealed inner workings of the console. With an offered arm from Xu she carefully lowered herself down to the ground to sit cross-legged in front of the opening and hunched so her headlamp shined inside.

Familiar wiring and conduits met her gaze - the dust coating everything in here was thick enough she couldn't see coloring or labels but she could mostly guess what was what based on connector rings, sizes, and where everything was running to or out of. 

"All right... See that wide cap there, in the very back?"

Selene got on her hands and knees, peering into the open panel as Eli leaned back. "-the one that kind of looks like that's where the tube wires come in?"

"Tube wi- oh. This is the room you found me in, I recall now. No, those should be routed to the left there -- that one there with the 3-way split."

"Oh, ok - I see that one. So the wide cap one is... Aha, I see it. Is that the incoming power?"

"Yes. What you'll want to do is follow it in about eight inches and then take the top off the box it looks like it's feeding in to. See it?"

"Yep," Selene answered. Eli scooted out of the way and the woman moved in closer; she took off her headlamp and tapped the builder on the shoulder with it, swapping it out for the flashlight she held. It wasn't an ideal angle but Eli shined it over her shoulder into the opening anyway to supplement the headlamp and then had nothing else to do but wait and hope the woman was able to get the relay box's lid off.

There were a few clanks, the sound of something breaking loose followed by the sound of metal clattering against plastic, and then Selene pulled out of the opening with the lid in hand. "There we go. Now what?"

"Now you're going to want to carefully unplug those wires from that box, and hope we can hotwire it to whatever power source you brought with you."

"Hotwire?"

"Uh... That's a term basically meaning to bypass an ignition or relay point."

"Gotcha."

Eli shuffled back over and watched as the builder dropped the wrench back into her toolbox and dragged over one of the duffel bags they'd carried down; inside was the familiar gleam of power stones (thank the Three that THOSE had persisted through the centuries) held within a metal bracket with wires and switches attached. Selene handed the cobbled together device to Eli before ducking back inside the open panel to examine and remove the plugs.

She didn't recognize the plug ends on the device but that wouldn't matter much so long as they had a means to strip the wires and solder them together. Definitely wouldn't be the first time she'd had to wire something on the fly like this - it'd be sloppy and slightly dangerous but if it worked it worked.

The builder pulled back out a moment later with a handful of wires and Eli waited as she carefully threaded them through and under the other components of the computer until she had about three feet of wire length freed from all the little clasps and hooks that had held everything neatly in place; as Selene handled the wires she smudged away the dust and Eli began picking out individual wires by color -- that one was for the cooling system, that one for a display (still needed to figure out that part), the thickest one was for the console entirely, there were two that powered the input devices on this end...that last thin black-looking one had to be for an on-board audio input/output system.

Bare minimum she'd need power to the console, the cooling system, and the audio (they wouldn't need the keyboard or buttons since there wasn't a screen to work off of - that would be less drain and strain on the power stones at least. The device Selene had put together held four of the yellow condensed power stones together in a completed circuit; she was glad to see the yellow ones since if it had been blue or lower they'd need way more to have any hope of powering a console this large. Four...MIGHT be enough. They'd have to see.

"Right, now - do you have a wire stripper?"

"A -- I use a sharpened part of my wire snips for that. Is that ok?"

Eli nodded. "Should work - cut the wires right at the base of the plug then clear off about a half inch of the coating. Does solder still exist?"

"Yep. I'm guessing I'll be doing the same to the plugs on my portable power device, right?"

"Correct."

Eli held the ends of the wires steady as Selene snipped and stripped, then sorted them out and lined up ends of wires so the builder woman could slowly solder them all together without having to juggle tools and align ends (strangely, she was using a mini welding torch to melt the solder...well, whatever, it was working). When they were all connected Eli searched over the device until she found the on/off switch and flicked it on.

There was a loud crackling noise out of the console's speaker, causing everyone to jump; after a few more bursts of static there came a series of pleasant tones and then a low chime before-

"-Laboratory Assistant AI, online." The voice was feminine and robotic - most AIs tended to have that metallic-like quality to their voices so that wasn't out of the ordinary at least.

Eli briefly glanced around - the others were staring down at the console as buttons and the slots lit up across its surface. "-state your designation and assigned task category, please."

There was a tiny stutter and staticky noise again. "I am known as Pauline. My assigned tasks were to monitor laboratory experiments, issue instructions to medical assistant AI systems, provide back up storage for all experiment-related documentation, and record all meeting minutes and conversations that take place within my designated region within this facility. May I ask who I'm speaking to? I seem to be having trouble with my optics and my sensors beyond this immediate station are offline."

Eli carefully moved the power device out of her lap and onto the floor near her feet. "I am Ranger Captain Elizabeth Summers. Do you have me registered in your system?"

"Let me check... I have you registered on the patient roster, ma'am."

"But nowhere else?"

"No."

Eli nodded - she had expected that. "All right. I need you to register me as primary administrative contact for this entire facility."

"I can't do that without prior administrative permissions from the All Source AI of the facility, ma'am. Please wait a moment -- oh dear. My chronometer says I have been offline for 25 years, 8 months, 12 days, 2 hours, and 36 minutes. Auxiliary power is offline."

"I know. And unfortunately I am the only surviving member of this facility so I will need that administrative access."

"Please give me a moment to verify such a claim, ma'am - I do apologize for the delays in my responses. I don't have the needed power level to run at full speed."

"Move as fast as you can safely process, Pauline. We're in a dire situation. While checking your logs run a cursory maintenance check on yourself for any data corruption."

"Yes ma'am."

The AI went quiet and Eli could hear a low whine from somewhere inside the console - age, dust, and the relative power level of the power stones were definitely putting a strain on Pauline's processor cores but there wasn't anything they could do about that at the moment.

"-I'm detecting no internal corruption. I am showing that 115 years, 3 months, 6 days, 14 hours, and 16 minutes ago the auxiliary power systems came online .0034 seconds after the primary reactor went offline. My logs indicate a connection failure between relay box 5372A-2 and 6981-B17, which placed undue stress on connected sectors and radiated out to effect the entire northeastern quadrant of floors 19 through 47. As a precaution the reactor was closed off from the rest of the facility but it doesn't appear anyone answered the maintenance request."

At that Eli let out a huge sigh and leaned back against the wall behind her, feeling lightheaded with relief. If it was a connection failure then the safety measures purposely took the reactor offline. That meant they were in no danger of anything exploding. At everyone's looks she gave them a smile and two thumbs up. "That means we're in the clear - no explosion worries."

All at once an unseen tension melted from the room and the rest of them looked as relieved as she felt.

"Thank goodness," Xu sighed.

"Oh. I didn't realize there were more than one user present," Pauline interrupted. Xu seemed surprised that the AI had heard him as he'd been barely above a whisper. "Please identify yourselves."

"They're not anyone registered with this facility, Pauline," Eli replied before anyone else could. "Please search back through your logs and tell me what happened prior to the relay failure."

"One moment."

As they waited Xu dropped down to his knees beside Eli, gingerly resting a hand on her shoulder. "How are you doing?" he asked - this time he WAS whispering, and Pauline either didn't detect it or was too preoccupied with her task to respond.

She smiled faintly at him. "Like I want to fall over, but in a good way. Knowing we're not going to explode any time soon is a big relief, and now we're in no rush to do anything down here."

Xu frowned. "You're still recovering, exhaustion is to be expected."

Eli briefly clapped her hand to his on her shoulder. "I'll be fine for a bit longer, doctor. Don't worry about me."

His fingers carefully squeezed but his look of concern didn't budge; there WAS a creeping ache born out of tiredness coming over her but she didn't actually feel on the verge of collapse. She glanced around and saw Arlo looking at her with the same concerned look on his face - Selene and Sam were both focused on the computer console at least. 

"Ma'am, I am ready to provide my log report."

She returned her attention to the console as well even though there wasn't anything to actually look at. "Go ahead, Pauline."

"Approximately 329 years, 7 months, 27 days, 10 hours, 12 minutes ago, I am showing that the facility went into emergency lock-down with the lock-down tagged with 'status: invader, armed, dangerous.' Approximately 26 minutes later I am showing a mass evacuation of registered users leaving the building though the roster indicates there were 115 people unaccounted for based on automatic logging at all exit points. 3 minutes after the evacuation the 'hazardous material release protocol' broadcast issued."

"This place was attacked?" Arlo asked into the silence that followed Pauline's report.

"It would seem so, Unknown User Male A. I do not have any further information beyond what is contained in the logs however. For more detail you would need to speak to the All Source AI of this facility and I do not detect him online."

Arlo blinked at the AI's words; Eli inwardly laughed -- assistant or administrative AIs always gave odd designations to users they weren't familiar with. "When did he go offline?"

"Checking. -- when auxiliary power went offline."

Selene straightened where she sat, looking up to Arlo. "The auxiliary power went out right as we rescued Eli -- that All Source hasn't been offline for long."

"Correct, Unknown User Female A," Pauline responded. "The All Source AI has priority when there is any power issue. As auxiliary power reached critical levels all non-essential services were disabled, followed by non-essential sectors, then I was put into standby and then deactivated completely to preserve what remaining power was present when auxiliary power dropped below 20% - unfortunately this means I am reliant on passively obtained system logs at this time and my access to those is hindered due to alarmingly low system power."

Arlo blew out a sigh. "I can't believe there's another All Source here... We had enough trouble protecting the first one we found."

Pauline's tone shifted from the pleasantly proper one she'd been using to one that had a tinge of amusement to it. "Of course there's an All Source AI here - it would be silly to have a facility of this size and importance without one."

"An All Source AI is just a central AI that controls and coordinates a system of lesser AIs," Eli said, glancing up to Arlo again. "Even every house had one."

"Indeed!" Pauline chirped, sounding pleased. "And Stewart is quite a pleasant AI - I look forward to interfacing with him again. It's been a very long time. -- ma'am, considering the situation I have decided to give you full adminstrative access to all protocols, sectors, and documentation that are registered as being within my job designation. Further access will need to be provided by Stewart."

"Got it," Eli replied. There was a burning starting behind her eyes and she rubbed a finger in one idly, trying to encourage it to water a little bit. "Pauline, we're going to leave you hooked up to this current emergency power. Can you tell how long before it'll run out?"

"Checking... I estimate the current power source attached to my system will last approximately 6 days, 4 hours, and 19 minutes."

"Is that at your current activity level or without activity factored in at all?"

"With activity. If I put myself back into standby my estimation goes up to 14 days, 19 hours, and 47 minutes."

"Good enough. I want you to put yourself into standby and only awaken on the command of myself, or one of the the four people currently here with me. I'm going to have them state their names - get a voice imprint for your access logs."

"Yes ma'am!"

Slowly draining energy was something Eli had in common with the AI; she pressed her back fully against the wall and pointed a finger at Xu, then to Selene, followed by Sam and then to Arlo. "In that order, go. All you need is your name."

"Uh...Dr. Xu?" Xu said, sounding as uncertain as he looked; Eli gave him an approving nod and dropped her gaze to Selene.

"Selene!"

"Sam."

"Arlo."

After everyone had had their turn there was a brief period of silence before Pauline responded. "Users: Dr. Xu, Selene, Sam, and Arlo voice imprints registered. A pleasure to place names with voices. If that's all then I'll place myself on standby and await future orders."

"That'll be all, Pauline. We'll be back later."

The glow of the buttons all dimmed to barely noticeable and the whine of processors faded; Eli closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The anxiety from not knowing the reactor's status had been mostly keeping her alert and on her feet - anxiety and adrenaline both, really - and now that she knew they were in the clear she was approaching a point where all she wanted was a warm blanket and a relatively clean horizontal surface to stretch out on.

Again there was a hand on the shoulder; she opened her eyes to find Xu had dropped down beside her on his knees. His other hand moved to her wrist where his fingers found her pulse. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Just tired, doctor. Don't need to be so tightly strung now that I know we're not going boom."

Xu nodded and looked from her to Arlo. "Let's get back to the surface and to the clinic. It seems we're done here."

"Right," Arlo said; he stepped down from the dais to give Sam room to get out of his way, then he came back up and offered both hands to Eli.

She hated how her hands were shaking as she reached up to take them, and with Xu at one side and Arlo pulling up both men got her on her feet; before she could reach for her cane Arlo swept her up into his arms, carefully adjusting his grip so his fingers weren't pinched against the backs of her knees. Xu had her cane in hand and was following close at Arlo's elbow as he turned to carry her toward the elevator.

"Sam, if Selene wants to poke around stay with her, all right?" Arlo called over his shoulder (he was considerate enough to shout it over the shoulder opposite from the one Eli's head was currently drooping toward - she appreciated that, even if it rubbed her the wrong way to have to rely on someone carrying her to get out of here).

As they walked away Eli could hear Selene giving Sam instructions on securing the exposed wires; she closed her eyes again and focused on keeping her head upright as the three of them got into the elevator and began the long walk back to the surface.

So far as she could recall Dubei had 47 research centers within the capital -- most of those were tech-based but 13 she was certain had been strictly medical research. The problem with that was she could recall all the numbers she wanted but she still had no means of matching where they all were on Dubei's map to try and mentally overlay that to what the land looked like now.

_Don't think about it._

'What kind of damn war could alter the landscape to such a degree...' she found herself thinking. It would've need to be one hell of a war to have removed Dubei from the map like this.

_Don't think about it._

Her eyes started watering. It didn't help the aching, burning feeling behind them. 

After a bit she felt the first hints of a cold wind blowing down the entry-point elevator shaft, and then sunlight hit her eyelids; Arlo's boots thumped across the wooden platform underneath her as he carried her out to the horses.

"You get up first, doctor - I'll hand her up and you can ride together back to town."

Eli could do little aside from wait to be passed from one man to the other; Xu wasn't willing to go faster than a walk with the horse so the trip back to town took longer than the trip out this morning had, but that was all right -- the cold woke her up a bit so she was able to slide down from the saddle with Phyllis's help once they were back in the clinic, and then with Xu on one side and Phyllis on the other she was helped back inside and to the bed she was becoming incredibly familiar with.

"Are you in any pain?"

"Minor headache, doctor - just tired."

"Do you feel you'll be hungry after you rest?" Phyllis asked then, helping her get her boots and coat off.

Eli shook her head and fumbled her legs up into the bed, and Phyllis pulled the blanket up as she sank into the pillow and shortly after she was out like a snuffed candle. When she woke there was still daylight coming in through the clinic's windows so she couldn't have been out for long.

'Not nearly so long as...as the last big sleep I took...'

Her eyes started burning again, and watering; with an irritated huff she scrubbed the back of her hand across them to smear the moisture away.

From nearby she heard the rustling of paper. "-are you all right, Eli?"

"Yeah, doc - bad dream, is all. Just a really bad dream."


	5. Chapter 5

"OW - son of a bi-"

Selene looked up in a hurry at the sound of an electric discharge and Eli's cut off swearing. "Are you all right?"

The Dubei woman had the thumb of one hand in her mouth, was holding two wires apart with the other, and was glaring into an open power panel; they were down on floor...was it 37 or 38? At this point the builder had honestly lost count, and she knew from Pauline's report that this place had a total of 85 floors (with 19 of them being in the shaft they used to get in and out of this place - everything else was deep underground).

"Found a bare spot the hard way," Eli grumbled. "Hand me that epoxy and I'll get it covered."

Selene pulled the battered jar out of her toolbox and passed it over; over the last two weeks Eli had been steadily getting stronger, and was beginning to focus on guiding them on doing repairs down here to get at least auxiliary power levels restored -- she'd been blunt by stating not everything would work, or it wouldn't work properly, with just "aux level" but it would at least let them get through every door so they could locate all the skeletons and get them out of here. 

Gale had been very adamant that he only wanted a select few knowing Eli existed, for now; at first Selene had expected to be moving slowly through here without Merlin and Petra but with Eli here knowing which doors should go where, what wires were supposed to go to what, and how to hook things up... Selene loved Old World tech - she loved learning about it, she loved thinking about new ways to use it, she loved recreating or re-inventing gadgets mentioned in the old data discs and piecing together broken relics from the past. She was used to having to do it all piece by piece but having Eli here was just...it was fantastic. It was amazing. Eli knew SO MUCH-

-and it was a constant reminder to keep herself in check because while Eli was direct and honest (or at least seemed to be) when it came to answering questions, Selene had a suspicion that she was on...what was the word...she'd seen it in an old--

Autopilot. That was it. Eli was on autopilot.

And Selene could understand why. It had to be terrible, to stand in the ruins of a city you'd grown up in and loved, to not know what had happened the day she and her comrades had been attacked, and to know that everything else was completely gone - ancient history. Wiped off the map. Not even gravestones left to visit (and she knew how THAT felt - Remington didn't talk about his time in the Lucien Civil Corps much but she knew about his friend who had sacrificed himself to save him...it was very important to Remington to visit that grave every year).

Part of her hoped that, at some point in the near future, Eli would consider someone a close enough friend to open up to -- maybe she was already talking to Dr. Xu about...uh, things? Hopefully that would help; she'd just need to pay attention and see if that autopilot-y, single minded-ness relaxed in the future, or maybe that was just a soldier thing? Or maybe just an Eli thing...Higgins could be pretty single minded (if you got in his way or distracted him he tended to metaphorically run you over to get back to what he was doing) so it could be just how Eli was. Or maybe just how people in the Old World were, in general.

Well. Whatever the reason, whether it was Eli's personality or an Old World thing or a soldier thing, Selene still had to keep reminding herself not to get carried away and bombard her with questions (and hopefully Merlin and Petra, when they were allowed to meet her, would show the same restraint). There was still a good chance the woman was just numbed to her circumstances and going through the motions - the less Selene drew attention to everything that was gone, the better (she hoped).

One thing Selene did appreciate as Eli answered questions was the total lack of smugness, or superiority, or pity, or disgust, or -- well, a lot of things. She was...nice, and incredibly helpful, about anything they asked her. If their lack of technology bothered her on a level deeper than the occasional annoyance she showed when she had to figure out how to adapt a tool or route around something they didn't have the tech needed to fix, she definitely was good at hiding it. At first Selene had felt a little embarrassed to be in the woman's presence considering the knowledge gap but not so much anymore.

As Eli daubed the epoxy over the exposed wire she'd shocked herself on a faint scent of freshly melted plastic filled the air; Selene turned back to the panel in front of her -- Eli was handling the door, and she needed to get the lights on. Once they'd swept this floor for skeletons (there were at least 12 unaccounted for when compared to Pauline's logs) they'd move on to the next one, and then the next one, until they reached floor 72 where the All Source AI's installation was where they'd then need to power him and get more in-depth access to...pretty much everything. Eli wanted full administrative control along with all security, hazard, and damage logs -- the woman was confident that once they had their hands on all of that they could move forward with repairs and taking inventory of what was left down here and what was functional.

Dr. Xu had already expressed interest in any remaining medical information and equipment; Petra and Merlin were eager to speak to another All Source AI and see what they could learn from it -- how different would THIS All Source ("his" name was Stewart, apparently) be from Wendy at the Research Center? That there were different types of All Source AIs was recent knowledge gained from Ack and Wendy both; what little Eli had mentioned made it sound like every building in the Old World had had an All Source in it...how weird was it that something so commonplace to her was something so remarkable to them now in Portia?

...oh. Not just Portia. If word got out that there was another All Source... That would be a problem. Selene vaguely remembered Arlo even mentioning something along those lines but it hadn't sunk in until just now.

"-what kind of security systems did All Source AIs have?" she asked into the silence.

"High-level encryption, voice imprints, genetic imprints, passwords and passkeys... Kind of depended on what level and type of AI you had," Eli answered, sounding distracted. There was a long pause before she screwed the epoxy jar shut. "-an AI that ran just a house or business wouldn't necessarily need a lot of security built in but a lot of people tended to buy the best packages just in case. There's not a machine on the-- uh...not a machine left on the planet, that can't be hacked into."

Selene looked up from the wiring at that, brow furrowing - 'hacked' was a term she wasn't familiar with. "What's that?"

"It's...uh... Do you know what coding or programing is?"

Selene nodded at her. "Yep - Mr. Ack explained a little bit about programming and how his works."

Now it was Eli's turn to look confused. "Mr. Ack...?"

"Mmhmm - he's a living AI that lives here in Portia. He's a cook."

Eli stared at her blankly for a moment, then tossed the pliers in her hand back into the toolbox. "Wait wait wait...a living AI is still functional after all this time?"

"He's pretty banged up but he's functional, yeah. He came out of a space station thingy that crashed out in the Collapsed Wasteland."

"Huh... Can we get him here, ASAP?"

"I...uh. Maybe? I know he has a grill set up in the plaza and is staying at the Happy Apartments so he's pretty easy to find. Why?"

"Having an AI interface directly with the All Source AI down here will make getting administrative control a lot easier -- this Ack will be able to fill the All Source in on the state of the world in an instant compared to us having to explain it ourselves."

"I can ask the mayor if he minds if Ack learns about you. I'm pretty sure Ack wouldn't tell anyone."

Eli was silent for a moment, working with the wires in front of her; with a grating noise and a pop the door finally slid open. "There we go. And I'd like it if someone would fill me in on why the mayor is being secretive about me."

Selene blew out a sigh - Gale hadn't outright admitted any reasons but she could guess. "Well... A couple of reasons, I think. A lot of people don't like Old World "stuff" -- they think we're better off without it and the Research Center, and sometimes even me, we get threatening messages from people. The center has been broken in to a couple of times too, some things stolen and a few things sabotaged, and someone once torched the warehouse down in the harbor to protest Portia expanding."

"Right. So I'm basically anathema to certain townsfolk. Go on."

"...anathema?"

"Forget I said it. Keep on with your explanation."

Selene nodded and, before responding, touched the last two wires together. The lights spluttered on but were dreadfully dim; she clicked off her headlamp and Eli did the same. "-so there's going to be people who aren't going to like you, because they hate the Old World. And there's also um...there's a war about to break out, between Duvos and the Alliance. And Duvos is always looking to take, steal, or recreate technologies from the past that will let them take over the world."

Eli let out a loud snort. "Oh good. I get blown out of the start of one war and face-first into another."

"No no, we wouldn't expect you to FIGHT a war on our behalf, no," Selene went on hurriedly. "I just think that...I think the mayor may think Duvos would try to kidnap you. Or maybe people would think you'd go join up with them since they have Old World tech and that's what you're used to. Or something."

"Not happening, on either account," Eli grunted. She picked up a few screwdrivers and a pair of wire snips and returned them to the toolbox, then shut the lids of both the toolbox and the power stone device she'd just wired to the door. "This 'Duvos' would be biting off more than they could chew if they came to town - especially if they came for ME."

Selene smiled a bit. "I don't want that to happen, even if it'd be a bad idea on their part."

"What or where is this Duvos?"

"It's a country - they call themselves an empire - up to the north. They border Ethea and Meidi, and technically a border of The Peripheries touches their border. They've been fighting in and around Lucien and Ethea too...those poor people." 

"And all of that is to our north?"

"Yeah. Also up there is Barnarock but they don't share borders with Duvos. Then below that strip is us in the Alliance of Free Cities - that includes Lucien, Highwind, Atara, Sandrock, Portia, Walnut Groove, Tallsky at the southern tip, and a little kind-of-island in the Western Sea called Vega 5. The Peripheries are to our west, and beyond THOSE is the Great Begeondan...but it's hard to get there because the Peripheries is full of monsters. There's also Seesai but they're really, really far away."

As she fell silent again she could almost see the wheels spinning in Eli's head as the woman thought -- maybe she was making a mental map of what she remembered compared to what she was just told. ...actually.

"Do any of those names sound familiar?"

It was a few moments before Eli replied. "Sort of. Ethea is. And Meidi and Seesai both sound like places that I kno- that I knew. Meidia was so far south it was snow-covered year round. Seisan was right on the equator. They were known for fruit exports and amazing seafood dishes the likes of which you couldn't get anywhere else."

"Seesai is sort of known for seafood too. Maybe it's a name that got carried through the years."

"Maybe."

Behind them the elevator whirred to life and a few minutes later it opened to let Higgins out; he was wheeling several crates on a dolly and was huffing and puffing like he was out of breath. He steered the dolly up to Selene and let it fall forward with a loud thud. "Here. All that I could collect. It's mostly the blue ones."

Eli nodded and carefully got up from where she sat, using her cane to sort of leverage herself onto her feet. "That's fine. We won't need to leave the power hooked up on every floor, just enough of them to get access to a couple of things."

Higgins rubbed his hands together, looking up and down the hallway; the lights Selene had managed to get on were holding in there but alongside the dimness a few were flickering now - it was just barely bright enough to see what they were doing. "--so what are we doing next?"

Selene swore she saw Eli almost, but not quite, hide an eyeroll.

"Same thing we've done on each floor," the woman replied, her tone patient but bordering on the edge of the tone you'd use when talking to a small child. "Get doors open, sweep for remains, move on."

Higgins wrinkled his nose. "I was hoping you two would've found everyone by now."

"Pauline couldn't get access to personnel tracking logs," Selene sighed, giving Higgins an annoyed look. "She only knows who didn't get out but not where they were last." They'd told him this three times now... Was he really that distracted with a need to start salvaging and emptying this place's resources?

He huffed. "This is taking forever. Why don't I take-"

"-because you don't know how to wire this up and you won't sit still long enough for me to teach you," Eli interrupted. That patient tone was gone now. "If you aren't willing to learn and put the work in then I'm not cutting you lose to wander around. We still don't know where those people are or what even killed them -- I don't care to repeat myself nor do I care for people to try and undermine or circumvent my instructions, and I KNOW you were told about the hazardous materials log because I was there for that meeting. Whether you like it or not whatever got released could still be down here and I'd rather you not blunder into it and get yourself killed."

"But this could take days," Higgins grumbled. "I have so much other work I could be doing right now."

Eli's expression went...well, Selene could only describe it as that sort of look you got when someone's said something stupid and you were too polite to say something directly but not polite enough to simply smile and ignore it. "Then go. Selene and I can handle things now that you got the power stones down here. Let Remington know on your way out that it's just us two. We'll be fine."

Higgins rolled his eyes and turned, heading toward the elevator. "I'll let them know."

They waited together in silence until the sound of the elevator's rumbling was too far away to hear.

"He's such an ass..." Selene growled. She turned her attention to Eli. "I'm sorry. Arlo didn't want him involved either but Gale didn't think I could handle this entire place by myself."

"You couldn't. And really, WE can't. But I'll work myself unconscious before I let that sort of man anywhere near my people," Eli said quietly. "Can't stand the person who won't put in the work but expects to reap the rewards regardless. Can the Civil Corps folks bar him from entering here?"

"The funny thing is he's a really hard worker...just pretty driven to do one thing and one thing only: keep his shop at the top of the regional leader boards. If it's not related to that he doesn't have much interest in it. And as for the Civil Corps they...technically could, I think? At least temporarily. A final decision would be up to Gale but I'm not sure if he would -- all ruins in Portia are open to anyone who pays the weekly fee to go inside and scavenge. I don't think he'd like to be in the position to ban a single person in town from coming in here...it'd be a rather touchy precedent, and might make him look like he's playing favorites."

Eli grunted, and leaned against the stack of crates. "I don't want to see this place ripped apart without any regard to what's being taken. If we're careful we can probably salvage a lot of what's here -- I get the feeling he'd take whatever without worrying about what he's leaving behind, and probably damage things beyond repair or salvage."

Selene nodded; she traded out her screwdriver for the crowbar she'd brought with them, and the wedged the flat end into the gap between the lid and the rest of the top crate. "Not to defend him or anything but the other ruins are sort of...um. Bad. Pieces everywhere. There's not really anything there but bits and scrap that you have to piece together -- not that that excuses him, at all, but finding a place like this that's so intact is almost unheard of." She pulled down on the crowbar and could hear the squeaking of nails slowly prying lose. "--we're really going to have to lock this place down if we want to preserve anything down here," she grunted and wheezed.

With a screeching noise of metal on wood the crate lid came free and she leaned it against the wall; inside was the familiar gleam of power stones - all of them blue, at least on this top layer - nestled in cloth and sawdust to keep them from chipping in transit. A wave of annoyance washed over her as she looked them over - if these were here then that meant the brackets and wires had to be in one of the crates under it. She tossed the crowbar down and, straining and puffing, moved the heavy crate off the stack and plunked it down on the ground narrowly missing her toes.

She grabbed the crowbar again and pried the next lid off, revealing the brackets; Selene offered Eli a hand to help her sit back down between the two open crates as they both set to the task of assembling the brackets and getting the power stones set in place. They were at it about a half hour, by her estimation, when the elevator opened again and Arlo appeared in the weak light of the light fixtures (which were starting to flicker more frequently - they'd need to splice in a second bracket device to help them out).

"Everything all right down here?"

Selene nodded at him, smiling. "All good. Surprised you're down here."

Arlo came over and looked over what they were doing. "--anything I can help with? I know I'm not a builder or know much about Old World tech but I'm willing to learn."

"Remington told you, huh?" Selene asked, sighing. She scooted over as Arlo settled in the floor next to the bracket crate then rummaged around in her toolbox to find a spare screwdriver of the correct size; she handed it to him and then began to pick up the other pieces to show him how it all went together.

"He did. I can't say I'm surprised - I knew it was a bad idea to let Higgins in on this little project. We should have brought in Petra and Merlin right from the start. I just hope he takes Gale seriously and doesn't mention Eli." He paused to look over at Eli, who simply nodded at him.

"I think he knows Gale means business," Selene said. She handed him the bracket and fished out four power stones. "Ok, see those little slots there and there? Those pieces slide. Use that screwdriver to loosen them, slip the stone into the spot - one per - and then slide them back in to hold the stone tight and tighten the screw again. Then, you flip the top of the bracket over and tighten those too. I'll handle attaching the wires, don't worry."

With a nod Arlo started loosening a screw; Selene watched him for a few breaths, then "--so, can the Civil Corps handle having you down here? Won't that mess up the shift times?"

"It will but we can adjust. Everyone already knows about the ruins and we've had several inquiries on when they'll be open to explore -- Paulie's volunteered to take a couple evening shifts making sure no one comes down here and I know Gale sent a courier to the Alliance Council regarding this place."

"A courier?" Selene repeated, blinking at him. "That'll take a week or more to... Why a courier?"

Arlo slid a second stone into place before answering. "After what happened the last time, Gale doesn't want to risk someone intercepting his telegraph, or faking a response. Mint is carrying it to Atara, and will carry the response back."

Selene stole a quick look at Eli to see that she was dutifully assembling a bracket of her own (but was moving considerably faster than Arlo was). 

"And was I mentioned in this message?" the Dubei woman asked then without looking up - almost like she'd known Selene was looking at her expecting a reaction.

"Probably," was Arlo's simple answer; he didn't elaborate further and the three of them continued to work in silence as they assembled the power device brackets.

She was grateful that Higgins at least hadn't skimped on screws or quality; it took another hour before they had all of them assembled and the wires attached, and then Arlo carried them up and down the hall placing one at each door as Eli and Selene each took a side and began wiring them up.

Selene found the doors to be fascinating; according to Eli every door here connected to a central server that granted or revoked access to every person in the facility -- most doors would provide access to anyone who walked up to them, opening based on detecting movement as well as weight on pressure panels in the floor beneath the carpeting. Doors with security measures would only open if it detected an access-granting object (usually cards or "key fobs," whatever those were) within a certain distance of its sensors, or else they'd require a hand or finger print on a sensor panel before it would open. And whoever had designed the doors had accounted for times where someone might need to get in somewhere they didn't have access to in a hurry; while the doors didn't have handles they DID have emergency release buttons inside the paneling beside the pocket that the doors slid into when they opened. 

Being as the power for the facility was down the doors had no access to their central server so simply hooking up the power brackets she'd built wouldn't work; Eli was instead wiring the power directly to the lines that controlled the emergency releases, which would force the door to open without any sort of access key or central power. The emergency releases were a sort of 'blink and you'd miss them' object inside the walls - Selene had always seen emergency buttons or levers painted a red or otherwise bright color in the other ruins in town but these were all a uniform gray instead with the main difference being the emergency releases were capped with a dull metal that was oddly cold to the touch compared to everything around it.

And of course the emergency releases operated on battery power too when all other sources of power were off but not even the best battery could hope to last 300 years. The good thing was that once they'd used the emergency button to pop the door they could unhook the power and it'd stay open, but they were finding there were a LOT of doors down here -- that was partly why they'd made so many of the portable power stone devices so they could have (or at least the original plan had been) someone placing the devices next to doors, someone coming along to wire them, and then someone else behind THEM unhooking and collecting the devices so they could keep moving at a decent pace. 

Of course, with Higgins deciding to take his leave it meant they'd need to find a third person to give them a hand... It was probably time to bring in Petra and Merlin. Petra would go wild over all this and Merlin had a steady hand when it came to delicate wiring and circuitry.

It was, as Higgins had said, going to take awhile to get through this place, but unlike him Selene didn't mind it in the slightest even if they didn't get any more help at all.

\----------------------------------------------------

Django had thrown in some fruit salads for free tonight -- Xu had a hunch that the man knew something was up, as Xu had accidentally let it slip that he was paying for meals for a patient of his without the means to do so themselves; charity wasn't a strange thing in Portia - in fact, Portia's residents were well-known for their desire to help their neighbors - but he supposed the number of meals being provided had tipped Django off to this not being a typical patient. He made a mental note to ask Phyllis if she would mind manning the clinic for longer than usual so Xu himself could cook a bit more and see if that made Django less suspicious of what was going on.

...though, there wasn't any way Django could suspect WHO his patient was. Being charitable for the sake of being charitable wasn't a bad thing, and so long as he found out when the rest of Portia did Xu supposed there wasn't any harm in it.

Based on the smells coming out of the containers on his desk it seemed like Django had outdone himself tonight; there was seasoned ribs, bamboo papaya and seafood with rice, two ramekins of fish head stewed in soy sauce, and of course the fruit salads that he hadn't ordered but Django had tossed in anyway. Eli had mentioned she loved seafood and honestly so did he so aside from the ribs (protein and lots of it would be needed to help her regain lost muscle mass) he'd tried to pick a variety of things he thought she would enjoy (and if she'd disliked anything thus far she'd not mentioned it).

He looked up from the paperwork on his desk as the clinic doors opened but rather than Eli, returning from the ruins as she usually did around this time, Xu was surprised to see Gale standing in his doorway.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Xu," was the man's cheerful greeting. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all." Xu quickly stacked his papers and stood with a smile -- he'd been wondering when Gale would make an appearance here. "I'm sorry to say Eli isn't here at the moment, I'm afraid. I AM expecting her back soon though."

Gale nodded. "Ah, yes. If it's not too much of a bother I'd like to wait here."

"Of course not. Have a seat."

The portly man nodded and came over to sit on a small stool beside the desk. "-how have things been with your patient, doctor?"

"Coming along. The speed at which one regains their health can vary from person to person but she's bouncing back rather quickly."

Gale chuckled. "Good, good. I'm glad to hear that. I hope to-"

They both paused as the doors opened again and this time it was Eli standing there; Gale stood as she came in and Xu came around to the front of his desk.

"Hello, Eli - I'd like to introduce you to Portia's Mayor, Gale."

Gale moved over with a hand extended. "It's a pleasure, Miss Summers."

Something flickered over Eli's face at the word "miss" but it was gone quickly, and instead she offered her hand in turn. "Likewise, sir. I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh? I'm not sure if I should be glad or worried," Gale laughed; Eli smiled at that, at least. "-now, first of all I'd like to apologize for how long it's taken for me to come meet you personally."

"It's not a problem. Mayors are busy people."

"That's definitely true - I've been busier than usual lately, even before you were rescued. I did however want to give you a good amount of time to get your feet squarely on the road to recovery, which is why we're only just meeting now."

"Again, it's no big deal," Eli replied, shrugging. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

Gale nodded, chuckling quietly. "Indeed, and it's my hope you'll choose to remain in Portia. And, regarding that... How DO you feel, about Portia? About remaining?"

Eli was silent for a long time; Xu watched her carefully, trying to be aware of any subtle hints in her face or body movement to suggest what she was thinking or feeling. Finally she inhaled deeply and straightened a bit where she stood. "Truth be told, sir-"

"-please, call me Gale if you like."

"-truth be told, Gale, I don't see myself leaving unless the general consensus is I'm not wanted here. Portia is sitting on top of Dubei - this is technically still home, for me. Even if it's totally unrecognizable now."

Gale's expression softened. "I understand, and of course you're welcome here. We do need to begin discussing how best to meet your needs - you'll need a place to stay, and a job, and everything else that goes with it. You'll find Portia is very helpful to her people and I know many would be happy to help get you on your feet."

Eli's smile went a bit strained. "Not everyone will, I'm told."

"...ah, well," Gale faltered a moment, looking awkward.

Xu pressed his lips together; he knew of course that there would be some in town who'd want her gone solely because she WAS Old World -- they had a hard enough time accepting any sort of Old World tech, no matter how harmless or helpful, but to have a living embodiment (at least, ANOTHER living embodiment - Ack hadn't been well received either) of the Old World walking around may be more than they'd be willing to tolerate. It was clear that Arlo or Selene, or maybe Remington, had mentioned as much to Eli already, which was a good thing for her to be forewarned about.

"No one in any position of authority will have a problem with you," Xu said into the silence. "Of that I can promise."

"Y-yes, that's true," Gale said in a rush. "Authority within the city's chain of command itself, anyway. There...MIGHT be a bit of a rub with the Church but they don't have the power to order you out of town, and if he thinks of trying it know that I won't stand for my citizens to be harassed."

Almost imperceptibly Eli's eyes narrowed at the mention of "he" in Gale's words; Xu knew exactly who that "he" was: if there was anyone who would without a doubt have a problem with Eli working and living in Portia it would be Minister Lee. Thankfully Lee was rather powerless within Portia - he could preach, guide, and advise all he liked but he held no administrative or official powers.

And with good reason -- Xu couldn't count the number of times the man had thrown a fit over Old World tech, even simple things like tools made out of new alloys, and it was suspected that he had a hand in a few of the Research Center break ins too even if no one could prove it. Xu could already picture the various shades of purple the man's face would turn as he pontificated (again) on the dangers of letting an Old World "relic" walk around.

"Duly noted," was Eli's quiet reply.

Gale took a steadying breath. "...now, then. Along with discussing how we can best help you get established here within Portia I also wanted to see how you were feeling - physically, as well as emotionally." He paused, giving her a gentle look. "I know none of this can be easy, and if there's anything in my power to help ease any burdens..."

Eli shook her head. "Not unless you've got a time machine -- and before you ask, no, we created machines that could take us to space but not ones that could take us to last week."

As she spoke Eli smiled a bit and Xu returned it to her with an encouraging nod; that she was willing to joke seemed to be a good sign.

"Well, don't hesitate to let me know if there's something I can do for you. -- oh, where are my manners. Do you need to sit down?" Gale asked, turning around quickly to look for the stool he'd just vacated. He grabbed it with both hands and plunked it down in front of Eli who sat down with a grateful look. "I'm sorry, I've been sitting all day and it escaped my mind that someone else might not want to stand."

"It's fine - I was technically sitting all day anyway. Easier to reach what we're working on."

"How is that going?" Xu asked quietly. "Do you know when you'll be done?"

Eli shook her head again, huffing a sigh out through her nose. "No. We're still missing 12, and that's only the ones that the AI Pauline had logs for. Patients or visitors wouldn't be on those logs so there may be more. I know I personally wasn't a part of that log list, and the others that were in the same sort of tubes that I was would be on patient rosters that we've yet to find."

With a thoughtful hum Gale rubbed at his chin, falling silent; Xu moved back to his desk and to the little basket that their dinner was sitting in and reached in to pull out a thermos of chilled apricot juice that he carried over and offered to Eli. She took it, opened it and sniffed, then took a careful sip; a moment later she gave him a smile and nod and took a more confident drink.

"I've marked out land to hold the remains, and intend to commission a gravestone as large as needed to hold as many names as we can find," Gale went on finally. "However, names or no we WILL be seeing that their remains are handled with care and respect until such a time that they can be laid to rest properly." He paused again and looked back to Eli. "I...don't know if this is an appropriate question to ask, considering the circumstances..."

"Burial rites, I'm assuming."

"Yes," Gale replied simply.

Eli shrugged and took another sip of juice before continuing. "I can tell you how my religion handles remains and give an idea of how others handled theirs, but there wasn't a singular religion in Dubei that had rites that everyone followed -- in fact, there were hundreds of different religions within city limits alone, and hundreds of thousands spread across the world in general. And it wasn't legal to track what employee was part of what religion either...medical centers would sometimes have that information on hand to make sure they didn't violate a religious mandate for a patient who couldn't communicate it themselves but HR departments wouldn't touch that sort of thing with a ten foot bangstick."

"Ah, yes. That makes sense. Well. When we're at the point where we're ready to lay them all to rest we'll have a discussion on how best to do that."

"Sounds like a plan."

Gale smiled, then looked to Xu briefly. "Just to double check that I'm not taking up your scheduled time...?"

"Not at all, though dinner may get cold."

"Ah. I'll get right to it then: Eli, do you have any opinion on what sort of employment you'd like to secure? I know it's been mentioned you were a soldier -- would you like a position within the Civ-"

"No," Eli interrupted quickly. "At least, not yet."

Gale blinked at her and Xu felt just as surprised as he looked.

Eli looked between the two of them, laughing quietly. "Did I just grow a second head?"

"No no, I apologize, I just wasn't -- I shouldn't have assumed," Gale sputtered.

She held up one hand in a placating gesture while holding the thermos up to her lips with the other for another drink. "Nah, you were right to assume, and believe me I think that's where I'd best fit in. But, to circle back to the earlier point of people not accepting my existence in town I don't think it'll be a good idea to place ME in a position with any sort of authority, no matter how minor, before I'm generally accepted into the community. That'll either erode trust in you and your Civil Corps or will leave me as the sole member that no one is going to listen to."

Gale pursed his lips, letting out a long breath through his nose. "I...hadn't thought about it like that. That's a very good point."

Xu hadn't thought of it framed in that light either -- she was probably right. The more he thought about it the more he worried that it would be a long time before several of Portia's townsfolk would even give her the time of day. "-what about the Research Center?" he asked into the pause. 

"Yes, yes, that was my next suggestion," Gale went on hurriedly, pausing to clear his throat. "We certainly have the budget to add another research position at the Center."

Eli laughed as she screwed the top onto the (now empty, Xu assumed) thermos. "Wouldn't that be cheating? Being as I wouldn't be researching anything so much as I'd just be giving the answers away."

Gale laughed as well. "I suppose that's one way to look at it but the offer still stands: it'd be a monthly salary, enough to live on without worrying about anything. And I can just as easily create a position with the Corps for when you feel comfortable enough to step into that role."

"We'll see how that goes. Ideally that's where I end up but...well." She shrugged and set the thermos on the floor at her feet.

Xu returned to his desk as Gale moved on to discussing where Eli could stay - it sounded like an apartment at Happy Apartments would be available for her - and began jotting down thoughts as he half-listened to them talk.

Aside from the facial tics at mention of 'miss' and 'he' Eli had remained pleasant and direct, as she usually was. It was one of the few times that he'd had visual proof that Eli perhaps wasn't as well as she presented herself to be; he didn't want to pry but it was confirmation that there were things she was suppressing, and he wished she would choose to talk about them. Counseling wasn't entirely his forte but he'd received some training on how to handle mental health as well as physical health.

As Gale and Eli talked Phyllis came in; she gave them both a wave but didn't interrupt as she walked over to Xu to place a heavy leather satchel on his desk.

"The latest shipment of painkillers was delayed at Atara but everything else came through. It seems there was a pipe failure at the processing building so everyone is missing this month's orders."

Xu frowned and stood to open the satchel to look through it. "Well...I guess we'll have to be careful with what we have in stock for the time being - we aren't really using a lot of them at least." He pulled out various jars, boxes, and little vials -- Atara's specialists had never failed to get their products out before so whatever the 'pipe failure' was must have been a major problem.

At the very least Portia's residents didn't really need a lot of medicines at any given time and Xu was able to manage a lot of ailments just by using the herbs that grew naturally around the city. Gale seemed to be wrapping up whatever else he'd come to speak to Eli about so Xu was careful as he stepped around his desk and around them to head over to the cabinets to put everything away.

"--whenever Dr. Xu cuts me loose, I assume." 

Hearing his own name caught his attention and he looked over a shoulder back at the others. "Hmm?"

"When do you believe Eli will be hale and hearty enough to leave the clinic, Dr. Xu?" Gale asked.

Xu thought a moment - technically, physically, she could go now. He still worried about her emotional well being however... "I would say a week or so, possibly less," he finally answered (more to give them an actual answer than because he believed what he was saying). "You are recovering your strength at a remarkable rate but you'll still dealing with bouts of weakness, correct?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah. And sometimes I feel a bit dizzy if I'm tired."

"All right, hmm. Let's meet again in about two week's time?" Gale went on, directing the last half of that to Eli. "That should give me enough time to get all pieces into place."

"Works for me."

"And for me as well," Xu agreed.

"I shall see you all then," Gale chuckled, offering Eli another handshake before heading out the door.

Eli watched him go. "...animated little fellow."

"He can get quite excited when things are going as they should," Xu chuckled. He quickly put away the rest of the supplies. "I hope you're hungry."

"Wasn't, really, until I smelled it. What're you feeding me tonight?"

Dusting off his hands he returned the leather satchel to its proper spot in the cabinet and then shut the door; as he fully turned around he caught sight of Phyllis making her way out as well. "Ah, Phyllis - would you care to join us? There's more than enough for three."

"Oh. I'd love to, then."

Xu pulled over the little rolling stool he used during examinations, and helped Eli scoot hers closer to his desk as Phyllis came back over; he offered her his chair but she took the stool instead, and as the two women seated themselves he picked up the basket and began placing the containers out on the desk, including another thermos of apricot juice. The last things he retrieved were a set of chipped plates from the bottom-most drawer of his desk and a handful of silverware.

Phyllis helped him start to portion out the food and once he was done and seated he noticed Eli poking curiously at the bamboo papaya slices. "Hmm. I tried to choose things I thought you'd be familiar with."

"It...sort of looks familiar? What is it?"

"Bamboo papaya," Phyllis answered, spearing a slice with her fork.

Eli wrinkled her nose, flipping the slice over on her plate. "Bamboo...papaya? As in both those words are the name of this...uh, plant?"

Xu nodded. "It's a tough-skinned fruit but tastes like bamboo shoots."

"Ah. So both bamboo AND this exist?"

Phyllis bit into the bite and then wiped some of the seafood sauce off to show the bamboo-like patterning of the 'fruit' inside. "It's hard on the outside but soft in the center. It even tastes like bamboo - it just has a slightly different texture."

"Huh..." Eli hummed, then took a tentative bite. "--yeah, that's bamboo all right. Weird. How did they create this? Selective crossbreeding?"

"Um...chemical and biological weapons, according to the history that survived," Phyllis answered quietly.

Xu watched as a few emotions flickered over Eli's face - surprise, anger, and then something akin to resignation.

"Ah," was all she said.

She tried a bigger bite of the bamboo papaya, then tasted the rice and shrimp; when she didn't make any faces or ask any other questions Xu took a few bites of his own and they all ate in silence for several minutes.

"I bet a lot of things I was used to eating are gone too, huh?"

"That...depends," Xu replied slowly. "We don't have any record of anything being wiped out, but there are certainly a lot of records of things changing. Though, I will say that animal life appears to have more drastically changed than plantlife did, according to our history." He studied her face and could see hesitation there -- she wanted to say or ask something but was holding back. "Did you...have something specific in mind?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Just, kind of hard to sometimes really grasp just...how much has changed."

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked quietly. "Or, anything at all?"

"...not tonight, doctor. I don't even know where to begin."

Xu nodded. "Of course. Just know, when you choose to..."

After a couple bites she looked up and gave him a smile. "Oh trust me, Dr. Xu. There's a lot I want to talk about. I'm just not sure I want to break that particular dam open just yet, because I know once I start it's going to be hard to stop. ...and, I don't think I want to start, until I know what happened to--" she stopped abruptly, sighing heavily and lightly tapping her fork against the side of her plate. "-I really want to know what happened to Dubei. And why I was down in that facility. I know it was sheer, dumb luck that I was far enough away from the ceiling that caved in but why was I THERE? Why were there others in those tubes? Why were we left behind?"

That last question was said much quieter than the others but her general tone remained the same -- no sadness, no remorse, just a quiet frustration. Xu left his fork on his plate and clasped his hands in front of him, resting them on his desk just behind his plate. "It may be a case that you weren't purposely left behind... Didn't the logs say there was an evacuation, and a materials release? From what Arlo and Selene said, you were attached to sensors and a breathing aparatus. It sounds to me as though you, and whoever else were in those tubes, may have been in the safest place at that given moment."

"That's true." She took a steadying breath and tilted her head back, letting the air out slowly. "But then what kept them from coming back? A hazardous material release and even an armed and violent intruder alert shouldn't have kept everyone away forever. Even if -- I've mentioned how poisonous and deadly a reactor explosion would have been. The poisonous part of a reactor is called radiation, and it'd by far be the worst thing that could've been released down there and even then we have suits and..."

She stopped again, resting her elbow on the desk and her chin in her hand.

"...suits?" Xu prompted gently.

"Yeah. Haz mat - hazardous materials - suits. I used radiation as an example but if it HAD been radiation then I and the others in the tube wouldn't have survived if it was enough to cause the entire building to evacuate -- regular glass, or even the tempered stuff used in most medical equipment, wouldn't have shielded us from the radiation. So that part doesn't make sense. But for the life of me I can't think of anything that would be in a medical research center that would mean EVERYONE would have to run if something leaked. Now, had it been a military base or the like I could name off sixteen different things, but...but not down there." She paused, then waved a hand. "Just speculating. But point still stands that I don't want to discuss anything until I figure out what happened."

She went back to eating; Xu did as well even though he'd lost his appetite at this point. At least they were close to her opening up; she was putting on a brave face but couldn't keep it up forever, as he suspected.

They filled the rest of the evening with idle chatter; it was mostly Eli asking questions about food and plants, and about Portia's general history and the layout of town. Xu didn't have any maps on hand and promised he'd bring her one to look at (Lucy at the school probably wouldn't mind lending him one) so she could try and match up what she remembered of the landscape to what everything looked like now. Eli was firmly back in her 'everything is fine' mentality -- no more tics or clues, just pleasantry. But now Xu had confirmation that his suspicions were correct; he'd just need to wait until Eli had her answers, then be ready to help her put the pieces together.


	6. Chapter 6

"One more floor to go until Stewart, and two more skeletons to find..." Selene muttered as the elevator doors slid open. She'd seen them do this so many times she was starting to see it in her dreams, and hear that little grating noise that trailed off into a metallic squeak right as they withdrew completely into the sides of the car. She was sweaty, dirty, and her hands were cramping, but finally (after nearly two weeks!) they were approaching the All Source AI of this place.

Finally letting Petra and Merlin in had been the right choice; Eli and Selene only had to show them one time how to assemble the brackets and where to attach those wires to, and now they were working as a proper team to methodically clear each floor. It was also a nice change to have two extra pairs of hands helping carry everything (for which Selene was more grateful for Eli's sake than for her own). 

They'd tried getting to the relay box that Pauline had said had failed hundreds of years ago; Eli thought she knew approximately where it ought to be within the wall - and it made sense, being as that section of the wall seemed thicker and sturdier for several panels in each direction while also reinforced in the floor and ceiling - but none of their tools even came close to fitting the bolts that held the panels in place. Selene had used a bit of tape and shavings off a pencil to take a rough "cast" of the size and shape of the bolt's head and would have to try casting it and using it to make a mold to make a tool when she got back to her shop as not even the Research Center had anything that would come close to working either.

"Do you think 16 will be enough?" she heard Petra ask behind her.

Selene trudged out of the elevator; Petra was right on her heels wheeling along the dolly with crates full of yellow power stones all nestled into brackets and ready to go, and by 16 Petra meant 16 total brackets with 6 stones apiece in them (along with a crate of the usual blue ones they'd been using to get doors open). Selene had never seen that many of the yellow ones in one place before; it was probably every spare yellow power stone in Portia, and she couldn't imagine where Merlin and Petra had had those squirreled away or how they got that many. When they'd hooked Wendy up to a new power source they'd used a pair of massive engines but that wasn't an option down here...

Eli answered Petra before Selene could. "Maybe. I'm not sure. It likely won't give him full access to the entire facility but might be enough to get information on what happened down here. And maybe directions to a supply closet or maintenance hall that might still have something in it."

That was just one of the mysteries of this place; at some point during the evacuation it seemed that spare supplies had been taken out along with the people. They had no idea why as Eli couldn't think of a reason for the facility to have been totally abandoned in a "rush" but not so rushed that they had time to take things with them...hopefully Stewart could clear things up for them.

Speaking of Eli... Selene could tell the woman was tired but pushing herself to keep going. Would it be rude to suggest she sit and let the three of them take over this floor? It felt rude, but she also didn't want to see the woman hurt herself by over-exerting down here.

"-you take the nearest ones, Eli," she said instead. "We can start at the other end of this hallway."

Eli's response was a shrug; Petra moved the crate with the yellow stones in it off the stack and from the one under it pulled out six brackets with blue stones and left them stacked neatly for Eli before wheeling the rest of them along in Selene and Merlin's wake.

This hallway was at least devoid of the disintegrating carpet; the floor was covered with some sort of tiling that was a bit slick with dust and grime but looked to have once been white. The walls were an eggshell color along with decorative dark wooden paneling hanging at regular intervals that had flower pots (full of long-dead floral plants) mounted in their center, and the light fixtures were down-turned glass bowls instead of the previous floor's upturned scallop shapes. 

Behind them she heard the distant creak and pop of a panel coming loose and knew Eli was already starting but they still hadn't found the end of this hallway, and were easily a hundred feet or more from the elevator now.

She reached up to adjust her head lamp's beam to a wider one (they'd given up on trying to keep the lights powered as it was now taking too many brackets to get them bright enough to be worth it). "At least it's a nice change of scenery?"

"It does make one wonder why this area is different," Merlin replied. "All the other halls were uniform, and now this one is far fancier."

"Perhaps it's related to the All Source being down here. This may be a sort of executive wing - where the higher ranking officials of this place had their offices," Petra offered. 

"That would be logical, I suppose."

"How long does this hallway go- oh. Here it is," Selene said, coming to a slippery stop on the grimy tile as the hallway finally ended in an abrupt left turn that led into an area that was only eight feet deep; a single armchair was back here, and a very small side table, both of which were shoved against the wall to her left. On the very back wall of this little area was a very faded wall hanging with pictures of robots, humans in both regular clothing and some in long white coats like the one Dr. Xu wore, and with what once had been a very beautiful starscape in the "sky" above their heads. Along with the pretty starry sky there was decorative writing of some kind around the humans and robots, arranged in small snippets and in a script she didn't recognize.

Touching it would probably be a bad idea but boy did she want to touch it right now; what kind of fabric was it made of? It was probably dust and dry rot that had caused it to fade as it didn't look like insects had gotten at it. "Wonder what it says..." was what Selene said instead of touching it. "I don't think I've seen that kind of writing before."

"Nor have I..." Merlin mused. The older woman reached up to adjust her own headlamp to a much finer beam and leaned in until she was only a few inches away from the tapestry, eying its details. "It's well preserved, all things considered."

Selene looked up to the top of the tapestry; she thought she could just barely see a pole attached to the top of the hanging but it was mostly covered by a decorative...well, cover. It was clearly meant to hide the pole that held the tapestry up and was painted (she could see flecks of the paint falling away) to resemble the wooden paneling down here.

"Maybe we can figure out a way to get it safely down and take it out of here," Petra said quietly. She was studying the tapestry too though she seemed specifically interested in the starscape part. "I don't recognize any of these constellations."

"Artistic interpretation," came Eli's voice from directly behind them; they all jumped and turned to see the woman standing at the corner smiling at them. "I recognize that image - it's a painting by Lorenzo Raphael."

Selene looked between her and the hanging. "Is it painted on the fabric, or printed?"

"Printed. A lot of paintings got reproduced as screen printings you could buy for a fraction of the cost of the actual painting. Most artists made more money off doing that than they did actually selling their works as originals."

"What does it say?" Petra asked. "What language is it?"

Eli moved forward to stand with them. "It's Dubeian. It says "mankind once looked to the birds in the sky, and asked how. Then they learned, and asked why. Then they looked to the heavens and asked, why not." It's an incredibly pretentious way of saying mankind a long time ago questioned how and why birds fly, then we figured it out and kept going higher. Lorenzo was known for that - using a hundred words when five would've gotten the point across."

"...THAT'S Dubeian?" Selene eyed the script again; it was fancy - all loops and curves - and didn't look anything like the alphabet she knew. "How many languages were there back then?"

"Millions, probably. It's partly why Base Common - which is what we're all speaking - came into existence. We all needed a sort of centralized language so we could talk and trade with one another, and make sure all our financial, medical, or technological doodads could communicate with each other easily." The woman paused, then continued on a language Selene hadn't heard before; it was lyrical and made of mostly soft sounds such that the few hard endings and a couple of deep throat clicks seemed highly out of place. "-and usually everyone knew their native language and Base Common, bare minimum."

"How fascinating..." Merlin said, rubbing her chin as she looked the wall hanging over again. "I wonder. How many languages do you know or recognize from your time period?"

"I'm fluent in a couple and can fumble my way through a couple more beyond that."

Merlin flipped off her head lamp before turning to face Eli again. "We do have a few data discs with information on it in languages we'd never seen before. Perhaps you could translate."

"Possibly, but I can promise you there's likely nothing too important if it's not in Base Common. Might be someone's personal work or journal but don't expect to find anything ground breaking."

That had Petra giggling. "Well. Even if it's someone's favorite recipes we'd like to know what it says."

Together they turned and left the little tapestry corner; Eli had gotten the four doors on her side of the hall all wired up. Along with the change in decorations this hallway also had fewer doors that were further apart from one another than all the other floors. It made Selene think that maybe these led to hallways of their own, or else these were much, much larger rooms than all the others. They quickly got the other powered brackets into place and retreated to the end of the hallway near the elevator.

"Here goes nothing..." Selene said quietly, looking back at the others before reaching down to flip the switch on the first bracket.

There was the familiar whirring noise and a thunk before the door slid open. Clicking on her flashlight again Selene aimed it into the doorway only for the light beam to seemingly be swallowed by the dark - it hardly traveled into the room at all. She walked forward through the door and into, as she'd suspected, an enormous room compared to all the rest they'd examined so far.

"Wow..." Stepping in further Selene swept her flashlight from side to side; this room was easily fifty feet wide and maybe twice as long. Standing in clusters throughough the room was...equipment, of some kind. Interspersed between the equipment thingies were high, flat topped tables that were covered in a leather-looking fabric that was heavily cracked from age. "What was this place, I wonder..."

"Ah - I know what this is. Or at least what this room in particular is."

Selene turned around to see Eli's silhouette moving through the door. "What is it?"

"Rehab," was the woman's answer. "Physical therapy stuff."

Eli switched off the headlamp she wore and held out a hand for Selene's flashlight; Selene handed it over and followed at her elbow as she moved over toward the nearest grouping of things -- there were two parallel railings bolted to the floor, a little over a shoulder's width apart, and near it was a stationary set of 4 stairs with railings at the same angle as the stair's incline. 

The carpet in here was relatively intact but felt pathetically thin under her feet. Eying the carpet under the stationary stairs drew her attention to her immediate right where there was a wide strip of...it looked like rubbery carpet, in a dark gray, that was marked with faded lines and numbers that ran around the entire room at the border, smoothing out into curves at the corners without changing in width at any point. It reminded her of the Land Run but instead of the distance markers being up on poles here it was instead printed on the floor itself.

"Rehab, physical therapy..." Merlin repeated. "Being as this is a medical facility my assumption is this equipment was used to strengthen oneself?"

Eli nodded, moving the beam of light from set to set. "Yep. Most of this is equipment you'd use to work on your balance, coordination, strength, flexibility, to name a few. Some is just regular exercise equipment that doubles for therapy work. Pretty basic stuff in here. I guess that's why this area down here is different - this is a patient area, and those were always made up nicely to help relax people as they worked on their health. Injury, sickness, or age could get you sent to a physical therapy session or two."

Selene followed the beam with her gaze as Eli moved it around; there were various sizes of wooden blocks, more stairs, more tables, lots of what looked like deflated rubber balls, cords and jump ropes, things that looked like weird bicycles... "Why would they put a patient area down in the lowest levels?"

With a shrug Eli handed the flashlight back. "Couldn't tell you. There were a lot of dormitory rooms above us so I bet this place doubled as a long stay rehabilitation center -- not every room above was meant for an employee's use, I guess."

"Was it common for people to live where they worked?" Petra asked.

"Depends on the line of work but yeah, sometimes. Also with how...um. With how huge Dubei was, for a lot of people and employers it was just more efficient to house everyone onsite. Could take you an entire day to get from one end of Dubei to the other."

Merlin shook her head as she left the room. "I can't picture a city so large."

Selene let everyone else leave ahead of her then followed along as they popped the other doors. These rooms had more of the same therapy equipment (but were much smaller than the room they'd just left - more personal, it felt like) and she decided to roam a bit further into the last one; the equipment was mostly non-powered - as in, it wasn't meant to be powered at all though there were a few things she found plugs and cords on, and there were regular plug outlets along the walls, at certain places on the floor, and even a few spots on the ceiling. Experimentally she tried to turn the wheel of a bike and found it stuck; even though it didn't seem like there was moisture down here the metal had still fused together over time. If it couldn't be repaired or restored she might be able to salvage all those gears, some chains, and the metal would be still somewhat good to melt down as scrap...maybe she could even re-purpose the scrap into rebuilding--

"Let's move on," came Merlin's shout from outside the room; it echoed oddly amongst the equipment and Selene hurried out to join the others in the elevator.

"Being as so many other substantial things appear to have been removed from this place it seems a bit odd that this therapy equipment would be left behind."

Eli shrugged. "It's easy to make, easy to replace. Dirt cheap to buy compared to everything that SHOULD have been left behind in an emergency in the supply closets but wasn't. A lightbulb is more valuable in the long run than an exercise bike."

That made sense. Sort of. The elevator smoothly carried them down to the next floor - it was almost All Source time.

\--------------------------------------------------

The more pieces they found on their own the less this place made sense.

Before heading down to these last few floors they'd talked to Pauline again; she'd said this was a medical research facility - specifically, a bio-technical research facility. Making machine-like biological devices in the pursuit of treating health issues. A research facility meant to build "machines" out of organic components wouldn't have much need for physical therapy equipment, and especially not an entire floor's worth of it...while a rehab patient might benefit from bio-technical intervention in certain diseases she knew that there weren't any official medical programs within Dubei that would have legally allowed people to be lab rats, and there was no way a facility could operate for long while illegally experimenting on people.

Well, whatever. The All Source AI would be able to answer all their questions.

Which, that SHOULD be somewhere on this floor.

The elevator had spat them out into another small sitting area; what had once been overstuffed, luxurious armchairs were now crumbling and rotted, along with the matching couches and plush pillows that sat on them - likely this was a waiting room for patients. Low coffee tables and small but taller tables stood beside or between groups of the furniture, making nice and neat little areas that felt contained despite being in one open space; along the walls were dusty old screens Eli assumed had once been capable of television and movie broadcasts, and she wasn't able to entirely stop a small, wistful smile from crossing her face -- she doubted this world would have movies, or musicals, or television. Or at least not in the format she was used to.

Beyond the waiting area was a hallway that curved in either direction; she took a right turn and began to plod along, noting as the paneling on her left-hand side gave way to frosted glass that was caked in grime and made all the more impossible to see through. The wood paneling on the wall to her right remained, and old-fashioned wooden doors were spaced at roughly twenty foot intervals.

The hallway continued to curve and an idea of the floor layout was forming in her mind. "All right - I think this just goes in a circle," she said finally. "In the middle here should be the All Source. No idea what these rooms on the outer part of this circle are for but I'm betting we're going to have a hell of a time getting in to the All Source since the entry door SHOULD be one of those that's access-locked. Pauline might have given me access to what she could control but that won't apply here, especially since I don't have any sort of access key and we lack power to the central servers."

"Uh..." Selene started; when Eli turned to look back at her the woman had a sheepish look to her.

"What?"

"Well, when we were trying to get inside the room where you were, Arlo just...kinda...sorta, broke the glass door, if you remember."

Eli snorted - yeah, she remembered that now. "We won't be able to do that here. If it's protecting an All Source AI I bet this glass could take a bullet hosing and not shatter. We'll have to figure out where in the floor the emergency release is."

"The FLOOR?" Selene repeated, huffing out a sigh. "I haven't seen any places where it looked like we could get under the floor."

"Because we don't get into the floor through the floor. We'll get in there through a maintenance shaft." She paused and looked at the identical fake wooden doors (as in, the wood was fake, not that the door was) and sighed herself. "Might take awhile, but I bet behind one of these doors are stairs down to an access shaft. They tended to keep those compact and close to where you needed to get inside as buildings got larger."

"You know..." Petra said, walking up to one of the doors and rubbing a hand against it. "It occurs to me that nothing we've seen so far had any sort of number or plaque identifying it. How did anyone know what's what? Sheer memorization?"

"Sort of?" Eli answered. "I mean...go somewhere enough times and you'll remember where it is. But we all had uh... You have clocks, right?" Petra, Merlin, and Selene all nodded at her in unison. "Are they hi-def or analog?"

"...huh?" was Selene's response.

"Um... Do they tick tock, or are they a display?"

"Oh. Tick tock."

"Ok. So we had these things called Hi-Defs. Their actual names were High Definition Personal Display Units - they were about this big-" Eli held her hand out with her thumb and forefinger about an inch and a half apart, "-square for the basic models. The more expensive ones were about this big-" this time she held out both hands about five inches apart with her fingers and thumb forming a narrow rectangle. "You wore them on your wrist or arm and they were basically a tiny AI you carried around with you. It would project a larger image into the air that you could interact with with a finger or you could use voice commands with it. All addresses were automatically updated to your Hi-Def once you were within a set area for it -- for example if you were to walk inside this building wearing one all room numbers and directions would be automatically ready for you to pull up any time, and you could always punch in any address at any time and be guided there by your Hi-Def."

"Wow... But, what happened if you didn't have a Hi-Def?" Selene asked.

Eli shook her head. "Not possible, unless you broke yours and just never replaced it, which would have been a very stupid idea. EVERYONE was given a basic model Hi-Def once they hit ten years old - government paid for them and made them readily available for everyone who needed one, though you might have to pay a small fee to replace yours depending on how it broke. It would have been pretty impossible to get anywhere in or beyond Dubei without one."

"Travel in the Old World sounds like it was...complicated."

Chuckling she turned to eye the nearest door. "Not to someone who lived there. ...er, then."

Petra had rubbed away some of the dust on the door earlier, revealing that the varnish on the door was cloudy but you could still make out the pretty, dark grain of the actual wood beneath it. Eli moved toward it and brushed her hands all the way around the frame of the door; there weren't any scuff marks, knicks, or dings in the frame so she was fairly convinced this wasn't the maintenance access door (careless people with toolboxes were a common "danger" to any and all door frames - even the plasti-crete or stainless steel ones). They'd already passed four doors and there were who knew how many more ahead of them if they kept going forward along the hall.

"Well..." she said, looking back at the others. "Who's feeling lucky?"

After a few hours work, moving counter clockwise around the circle from the elevator, they all could call themselves lucky; finally, in these rooms, they were starting to find stashed components -- lightbulbs, circuit boards, keyboards and screens, a few Hi-Def replacement pieces, cords and discs and...just, anything Eli could think of that would've gone into a computer or any other technical equipment was in here. And it was clear these rooms WEREN'T intended to be storage rooms as they were as nicely appointed as the previous sitting area had been.

Despite them being stacked high with boxes that she'd previously been hoping to find Eli found herself wishing the armchairs weren't falling apart and were empty all the same; her back and hands were aching and her knees were starting to feel a little unreliable. A quick cat nap in a nice plush armchair was sounding pretty good...

'We're almost done,' she kept telling herself. If they could get into the maintenance access, get the All Source AI powered on, and check that it wasn't damaged due to time or the various power failures, they could call it a day. It's not like the AI would be going anywhere.

She, Merlin, and Petra were skimming over the contents of this latest impromptu storage room -- these boxes were full of old medical texts printed on plasti-paper, along with technical manuals for Surgi-Tech Suite machines (though where the machines were was anyone's guess). Some of the texts would no doubt be useful to Dr. Xu but without the Surgi-Tech machines the manuals would be pretty useless. Had ANY surgical machines or AIs-

_Don't think about it._

-survived this long? She made a mental note to ask Dr. Xu when she got back to the clinic again.

Selene had moved ahead and was methodically scrubbing dirt and grime off the doors further down the hallway; if she found any scuffed up doors she was supposed to come running but so far they'd not heard anything from her. There were a few boxes of just texts that they could take back up with them today if they left the crates of power stones behind...that would probably be a better use of their physical efforts -- with the entry elevator being watched around the clock by the Civil Corps it was highly unlikely anyone could get down here and steal the stones (or anything else for that matter).

"Hey, guys?" came Selene's shout from the hall.

Eli poked her head out of the room; Selene was far enough along the hall that she couldn't be seen beyond the hall's curve. "Yeah?"

"I found an open door -- the center part, I mean. It's open."

...open? That wasn't right. There's no reason the security door leading to the All Source AI should've been open already.

With Merlin and Petra right behind her Eli headed down the hall; she estimated they were probably on the far side of the halfway point (meaning, to get back here from the elevator they should turn to the left instead of the right). Finally they met up with Selene who, as she'd claimed, was standing in front of a glass door that was slightly ajar; it was frosted like the walls to either side, and its frame was thin strips of stainless steel so it would have at least stood out from the glass wall even if it hadn't been open.

"WHY is this open..." Eli muttered. At least the security systems would also be offline so she had no fear when she reached out to push the door open further.

Hinges that hadn't seen a lubricant in centuries shrieked in protest as the door opened; beyond it was a smell of spilled oil and dust. They all flipped on head lamps, and even the extra flashlights they'd carried down with them and in the beams of light they began to piece together the layout and contents of the room.

It was a circular room with a tall ceiling and curved rows of computer consoles atop desks arranged in neat, concentric half circles around the massive All Source AI docking--

"Well, shit," escaped her before she could stop herself, as their beams of light all fell on a gigantic pillar in the middle of the room that could only be the central All Source AI docking station -- emphasis on "docking," as this model of AI was meant to be mobile. "We've hit a snag."

"What?" Petra asked, looking as concerned as she sounded. "What's wrong?"

Eli led them up an aisle between the rows of desks. "This is a mobile All Source model."

She stopped when they were at the base of the massive AI; it was basically a square pillar in the center of the room with rectangular screens that reached from the ceiling down to six feet above the floor. In front of them was an indented rectangular spot, four feet wide by six feet tall, with an obvious thin gap running through the middle from top to bottom; Eli knew that these were a set of double doors that would open to allow the AI's accessory body to step out of its docking port, allowing it to freely move about the facility as needed.

"Wendy could move too, initially," Merlin said into the pause that followed. "It doesn't seem out of the ordinary that other All Sources could move about as well."

"From what you've told me Wendy sounds like a warehouse and distribution All Source system," Eli responded. "Wide stance, hands that could grab and lift -- built for strength and purpose in hauling things. A mobile medical All Source is going to be vastly different...for one, it's not going to be much larger than a typical human, and it'll look more humanoid than most because you don't want to upset your patients with something that looks too mechanical."

"Why would a medical All Source AI need to move?" Selene asked.

Eli shrugged. "AIs are meant to serve in any capacity we need them. An All Source AI could labor or issue orders as needed, and a mobile model could do so from any location as required. It's just...how things worked." She walked slowly around the pillar; there was just the one door into the docking station, as she suspected. "The problem is I don't know anything about how to attach power to a mobile All Source. Their systems are going to be different and delicate enough that I'd rather not risk causing a short somewhere -- especially now that there isn't a way to manufacture what we'd need to fix it if I did."

Selene stared at the doors to the docking station. "Can't we attach it somewhere in the line like we've been doing with the doors?"

"The mobile body and the stationary body are going to have separate power lines coming in. Even if we figured out how to hook in without breaking anything we're not going to have the power needed to power both."

"...do we NEED both?" Petra asked, sounding puzzled. "We don't need it mobile, we just need it activated."

Eli stepped back from the AI's pillar to stand with the others, shaking her head. "This AI is technically one unit but spread across two pieces. If we want to power him at all it'll have to be both and we don't have enough power stones to sufficiently power both halves. We might be able to sort of wake him up but it'd be equivalent to asking a human who's blind, deaf, and missing their legs to run a marathon."

Merlin hummed to herself. "I see. We already have every power stone in the Research Center on hand...if that's not enough I'm not sure we could gather together more in any reasonable amount of time."

"So...what do we do then?" Selene asked. "We might not EVER get enough power stones together if what we have isn't already enough. We can't make more of them - all that we have are things we had to find in other ruins."

"Well," Eli sighed, looking to the builder. "That's where you come in. I suggest we turn our attention to getting those tools made to get the relay box fixed, and get that reactor back online. It might not be running at full power but that'll be way more than we could scrounge together with stones. Get the reactor online, and we get this entire facility back online."

Selene wrinkled her nose. "Oooh...well. Before we do all THAT I'll need to finish up the locking mechanism for the access elevator then."

"Gale really doesn't want anyone down here until he says so, huh?" Eli chuckled.

The builder nodded emphatically. "I've been keeping him up to date on everything we've been doing and he wants this place to remain intact for study. It's the most intact ruins ever found in this region...there's a lot we can learn here. Dr. Xu will be doing back flips over those medical texts, for sure."

"Let's get back to the surface, then," Petra said after a pause. "Selene, I'm going to reference everything we have and see if there's any mention of these tools."

"And I shall come help personally with the casting of the molds," Merlin interrupted. "I'm sure the four of us can create something suitable in no time."

\-----------------------------------------------

"Ah, there you are."

Selene and Eli both paused and turned at the shout; behind them Gale was hurrying up to them, huffing a bit as he came up the ramp.

"I was hoping to catch you before you got to the clinic," he wheezed when he was up to them. "Granted, I was hoping to catch you before you left Django's too but I was clearly a bit late for that part," he chuckled a moment later. "Eli - I've received word back from the council. They'll be sending in some assistance for the ruins, as well as a few scholars who would love to speak to you. And, I also have everything in place for you to take residence in an apartment of your own."

"An apartment?" Selene broke in before Eli could respond. "You're going to put her in Happy Apartments?"

Gale nodded. "An apartment was readied for her-"

"No no no," Selene went on, interrupting again and shaking a finger in the air. "Those apartments are nice but they're the size of a cracker box, AND that's where Lee and Nora live too. She can stay with me."

Both Gale and Eli blinked at her; it might've come out of her like a spur of the moment idea but it was actually something that had come to mind a couple weeks ago. "I mean it," Selene went on. "I've got extra bedrooms at my shop AND I can promise I'm not going to cause a stink that she's there." She turned to Eli. "I won't even charge rent! I've got more space than I know what to do with - we'll have to furnish a room but aside from that--"

"Now wait a second," Eli broke in. "I intend to work and pay my own way. I don't want to rely on charity for the rest of my life."

"OK, fine," Selene huffed. "We'll figure out a rent arrangement. But seriously," she turned her attention to Gale. "We already know Lee is going to throw a fit when he finds out about Eli. Let's not put them in direct conflict by making them neighbors, yeah?"

Gale sighed. "I did think of that and the apartment that's ready for her is as far from Lee's doorstep as possible. And if there's a problem it will be taken care of."

Selene turned her attention from Gale to Eli. "Those rooms are tiny - everything in one room with only the bathroom divided off. One bedroom at my place is the size of an entire apartment unit there. Let me at least show you the place before you pick where you want to stay?"

Before Eli could reply Selene had her by the wrist and was guiding her back down the ramp and across the plaza, with Gale following along in their wake.

Selene's shop was something of a point of pride for her; it was a gigantic two-story home, kept clean and in good shape every season, and she'd added on a stable and always had a nice garden along the front fence during warmer weather. She stole a look at Eli as they came up to the gate and was pleased to see the appraising look on the woman's face that turned to surprise when she saw the automated mechanical assembly platform that, admittedly, took up the lion's share of the property.

"This place was left to me by my dad," she said. "I'm pretty sure he meant to move the entire family out here eventually but he...uh, didn't. That's another story I won't bore you with but basically, I have this huge house to myself and it was clearly meant for one than one person. There's an extra bedroom on the ground floor and one on the second floor, and there's two bathrooms, a big living room, and a nice kitchen. AND-" she went on, pointing to the assembly station with its robotic arm and to the warehouse nestled in behind it, "I've got manufacturing set up that might be something you're familiar with. It'd be perfect to have you here anyway since we're going to be working on getting those tools made up -- no need to walk all the way out here if you're already living out here."

"Uh..." Eli muttered, looking around at the garden and the assembly station, and then turning her attention to Gale.

Gale scratched at the back of his head. "Well... The Happy Apartments arrangement was the best that could be done on short notice. There aren't many open residences in Portia that're in good enough shape that I felt it would be appropriate to offer..." He paused, then looked to Eli. "You're of course welcome to the apartment, or if you think Selene's offer is more appropriate for your needs you're welcome to make that arrangement as well."

"I..." Eli said, looking between the two of them. "...I feel a bit awkward, like I'm pitting your offers against one another."

"Of course not," Gale chuckled. "I'll admit I was as surprised as you are that Selene's made such a kindhearted offer."

Selene grinned. "It was something I'd thought of before, don't worry -- I didn't mean to spring it on you so suddenly but when I heard Gale mention the Happy Apartments, I... They really ARE small."

"But serviceable," Gale said, waggling a teasing finger at Selene. "I'm not offering her a moldy hole in the wall."

"Yeah, yeah - they're clean and in good shape, just small."

Eli looked between the two of them silently for a moment or two, then huffed out a sigh. "All right, well. At least let me see both rooms before I make my decision."

Selene clapped and hurried toward the front door, fumbling for her keys.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh come on - you're going to eventually own more than two sets of clothing you know."

Eli had once said Gale seemed like 'an animated fellow' - if he was animated then Selene was animated to the power of ten; there were times she thought of the builder as a hyper little puppy and it wasn't a personality type she was entirely used to just yet so the woman's eagerness was a bit daunting sometimes.

"You've already spent a lot of money on me-" Eli started, only for Selene to make a hushing gesture.

"Yes, I have, and I've got gols to spare -- just to rub it in Higgin's face once I purposely made certain I stayed the number one top shop in Portia for three years in a row. That built up quite the savings and I'm not going to be spending it on myself anytime soon. Now come on - you need more than a bed and a tiny table. Go nuts!" the woman laughed, gesturing at the various furniture items that lined the walls of...was it Paulie? Paulie's store.

She'd eventually decided on staying with Selene; Happy Apartments had reminded her too much of the barracks, and she...wasn't ready to deal with that constant reminder yet. So, the offered, spacious room at Selene's had been her choice, and Selene had awakened her bright and early to go furniture shopping. The bed was easy: a simple wooden frame and headboard that had an ivy pattern carved into it and a basic mattress; the frame and headboard were painted a nice cream color and the ivy was a deep green. Along with it she'd chosen a matching bedside table that had two small drawers built in, and she'd deemed that sufficient enough to start out with but Selene was...very insistent on furnishing the entire room.

There was another small table that matched the bed, and the builder woman kept "subtly" nudging her toward a bookcase with matching chair as well as a piece that was half dresser (with mirror) and half armoire; all of it was a pale wood that, while it wasn't the exact shade of cream as the headboard, was still a close enough color that it all could pass as a "matching" bedroom set.

"Even if I say no, this is going to magically turn up in my room isn't it?" she asked dryly.

Selene giggled. "Not 'magically,' no. If you like them, then let's get them -- Paulie'll even move them in for us."

"That's right! Because it's the manly thing to do for such a large order," the giant man laughed.

The man was...pretty obsessed with the word "manly" but his laugh was genuine; he and Selene had that same level of friendliness going on. Hopefully that friendliness would remain after he found out who she was and where (and when) she'd come from.

Anyway...back to the matter at hand. Apparently everything in the shop was something Paulie had made himself, and she had a feeling that everything she picked up now was as high quality as it looked and would probably last her several decades so at least Selene wasn't paying a premium for furniture that would fall apart in two years. "...fine, all right. But just these things and that's IT, got it?"

Selene snickered then held a hand out to Paulie; as Eli watched the man took a handful of gols (why the world had gone back to physical coin-based currency was beyond her) and dropped it into her palm.

"When exactly did you two have time to make a bet on her wearing me down?"

"As you were looking at the bed frames. When the smallish builder sets her mind to something very little will stop her," Paulie said. "And sometimes that means I lose a manly bet."

Selene pocketed the handful of coin, looking smug. "It was a righteous cause, I promise you. You deserve to actually have a comfortable living space."

"I'll have all this delivered by end of the afternoon," Paulie went on. "Did you have a floor plan in mind?"

"Nah, we can move it ourselves once you get it into the house," Selene replied. "Thank you Paulie." She gave the large man a hug and he returned it with enough force to lift the builder from her feet then waved at them as they headed out from the shop.

Outside the wind was blowing but the sky was clear; Eli zipped her jacket back up against the chill and looked to Selene. "Now what?"

"Well... Merlin is helping Petra check for any mention or pictures of the tool we need, so they're busy today. I wanted to wait to see if they found anything and I also have the factory building the last pieces of the lockable elevator car at the moment so even if I had all the measurements or assurances that I could go ahead and try casting that tool we need I'd still have to wait for that to finish. So...basically, we've got the day free aside from being home when Paulie delivers the furniture. Want to get a late breakfast?"

Eli opened her mouth to reply when a comically large set of scissors over a storefront across the way caught her attention. "-is that a salon?"

"Huh? - oh, yeah. Sanwa runs it - cuts, styles, and dyes hair. And beards, but that doesn't apply to you," Selene answered, grinning.

With a small smile she looked away from the scissors shining in the morning sun and back to the builder. "Don't suppose I could rely on your charity for one more thing, could I?"

\-----------------------------------------------------------

The apricots Selene grew along the western fence line were juicy and tasted fantastic, and made a for a refreshing snack after an hour or so of moving furniture around.

Paulie had carried it all in and then she and Selene had pushed things into place; Selene was now off double checking on the final pieces of that locking car mechanism, and Eli was sitting on a stool in front of the fence with her back pressed to the wooden slats as she slowly munched on one of the last apricots the builder had gotten off the trees before winter had set in.

It seemed that along with new or hybrid fruits and vegetables a lot of plants she was familiar with had developed a rather long shelf-life on top of having shifted what seasons they typically grew in -- in this case, Selene's apricot trees kept producing right up to the first frost of late fall whereas the trees Eli had known in her time period had mostly stopped dropping fruit by late summer (and the apricots back then definitely hadn't lasted for a few months without showing signs of rot or withering). There was a single apple tree in the little "grove" along the fence and from what Selene had said the apple tree at least produced on a schedule that Eli remembered.

There were neat, orderly rows of planters next to the trees and while they were empty now there were little signs attached to them to identify what had been there: chili peppers, cotton (such a small amount though...surely that wasn't useful enough to grow so little of it?), green lettuce, pumpkins, wheat (again how was it useful to grow just a few tiny planters full, versus an entire field?) 

It was a small comfort to actually see proof that not everything had changed so drastically but that was about all that was immediately familiar on the property.

In the planters among the normal plants Eli recognized were more of the weird ones: bamboo papaya, cornball (this one was at least...SORT of understandable? It seemed to be corn that just grew in an orb instead of a long cob), layered carrots (something that tasted like a carrot yet was shaped like a turnip and colored a stripey green and white that resembled neither vegetable), potato fruit (looked like an apple, tasted like a sweet potato), sisal... There were remnants of flowers that Selene had called rainbow flowers, and despite there being only withered stems and dried petals Eli could see the name was very fitting.

And over there, separate from the fruit trees, was a cluster of seven trees that were totally unrecognizable; Selene had called them nitra, zeolora, and crystella trees and Eli had never seen anything so bizarre as trees that grew...rock and crystal-looking "fruit" that hung heavy from the branches or leaked from the bark like a growth. Whatever or however the rocks and crystals grew the builder had said that the trees weren't ready to be harvested but had promised to let her help when it was time; what had gone wrong in nature to create trees that grew rocks?

No... What had gone wrong with the world that gave chemicals and biological weapons free reign to do all THIS?

'At least some of it's familiar...' she kept thinking to herself.

And she had to keep latching on to the familiar things, but there were precious few compared to everything that had changed... Plants were different, the trees were different (even the "normal" ones growing naturally around the shop - Eli didn't recognize those species at all), languages had disappeared, technology was gone... 

And then there was all the people, and all the nations, that were gone too.

A twinge hit her in the gut and she leaned her head back against the fence behind her; the change in posture let the light breeze blow right down the front of her, through the little opening between the V-shape of the zipper on her jacket and the tiny gap at her collar bone where her sweater neck drooped slightly. The sudden stab of cold against her skin drew her attention away from the black hole of thought she was about to tumble down and she took a steadying breath.

After a few moments she did zip her jacket up to beneath her chin but she stayed leaning as she was; from the workshop and warehouse across the yard Eli could hear the noise of machines pounding and grinding away -- the locking elevator car was nearly done with only the front and back wall panels needing completion. The lock itself was fairly clever and Selene had seemed especially proud of herself as she showed it off to her earlier; it required both a physical key and a magnet of a certain strength to turn the tumbler and lift an inner locking bar that fit into the gap the door would ordinarily slide effortlessly into, and without the magnet to lift the bar you'd have to tear the entire door apart to get that bar up and out of the way (and by that point you wouldn't even need to as the door would be less a door and more a gaping hole). 

Selene had selected a pile of magnets of various shapes and sizes but all roughly the same strength and the plan was only some of them would get a key and some would get a magnet (with a few exceptions - Gale would have both a key and magnet and so would at least one of the Civil Corps members). It essentially meant that it would take two people to get the car unlocked, which Eli considered a little overkill but was willing to let the mayor have the final call.

It did make her wonder what kind of war had just passed between the Alliance and this Duvos...Gale was dead set on absolutely nothing in those ruins falling into Duvos hands even though Eli knew there wasn't a chance in hell that anyone on the planet could replicate anything that could be found down there.

The thrumming and clanking of the workshop factory rather nicely covered up the sound of approaching hoofbeats coming from the direction of the city gates; Eli wasn't even aware Arlo had gotten that close until he'd said hello, and then she felt like an idiot at how she'd jumped out of her skin at the sudden greeting.

\---------------------------------------------------

"Didn't mean to startle you, sorry."

Spacer nickered quietly - almost like the horse was also apologizing on his behalf.

Eli sat up from where she'd been leaning against the fence. "Not your fault, was just...thinking, I guess. I need to get back into the habit of listening for every little noise."

With a nod Arlo quietly gave her a once over; she was looking stronger every day, and now that she was out here with Selene she'd be right next to the Civil Corps usual jogging path. "-you're looking well. Does Dr. Xu have you exercising to build your muscles back up?"

"Not yet, but getting out to the facility and working inside it is doing a pretty good job of getting me back to what would be normal for anyone else. It's going to take a lot of work and protein to get back to what's 'normal' for me."

"When the Civil Corps does training exercises we usually start out with a run that begins at the gates and goes right by here - maybe you can start joining us, when we get back to it."

Eli smiled at him. "I'd like that. It'd be a good way to get the lay of the land too." She jerked a thumb over toward Selene's factory. "She's almost got the locking car done so whatever schedule you had before you ought to be getting back to soon."

Arlo gently nudged Spacer a little bit closer so he didn't feel like he was just a few levels shy of shouting at her to be heard over the noise of the factory going at full steam. "I'll be helping to haul it out and install it - how big is it?"

"Big enough to properly fit into the shaft, and with thick walls and door. The lock's actually pretty clever too."

"Good. We need clever to keep people out of there. Has Gale talked to you yet?"

He noted that she paused (it was barely perceptible - could've been mistaken for a flinch) before offering him another smile.

"Yeah, he has. This coming sunday the cat's out of the bag."

"I don't expect any trouble but Remington and I will be there regardless."

Eli nodded and an awkward silence fell; she took a halfhearted bite out of the mostly finished apricot in her hand but was chewing it slowly, like she didn't want to swallow it.

Sensing a change of subject was probably needed Arlo cleared his throat. "-your haircut is nice. Suits you."

"Thanks," came Eli's quick answer - the relief in her tone was palpable. She ran a hand through her hair; it was shaved almost to her skull on the sides and in the back, but the top had been left long enough to comb to the left. "It's how I wore it before. Fits better under helmets and there's less there for someone to grab a handful of if they manage to get close and I don't have said helmet on."

Ha...a haircut doubling as part of personal defense. That was something he hadn't given thought to before. "So you've met Sanwa then. What'd you think of him?"

"Chatty fellow. Selene mentioned I was new to the area and he started waxing poetic about Portia and how peaceful it is out here. I guess that's why you only need three Civil Corps members, eh?" she asked, chuckling quietly.

Arlo smiled faintly, shaking his head. "He does have a point. There's not a lot of interest in joining the Civil Corps because not a lot of people think we need a large group of us because Portia is so peaceful. Gale does have the budget set aside to hire on more people as needed or required, and Paulie helps out as he's able -- we did have a recent incident with a rogue knight that had people clamoring for more town security but that sentiment only lasted a couple of weeks."

"...a...rogue knight?" Eli repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Like, metal armor, sword, chivalry knight?"

"Sort of. He had some armor on and a sword but he was commanding an All Source AI and other AIs to attack Portia. We sustained some heavy damage but were able to fend him off with help from Django."

Eli let out a barked "ha!" before spinning on her stool to rest her arms on the fence and her chin on her arms. "I knew it. That man carries himself too confidently to just be a chef."

"He...what?"

"Django. I met him earlier when Selene and I got brunch. He walks and carries himself with a certain confidence and balance that I'd expect out of someone who's been trained in combat. Is the knight-theme of his diner just for show, or is he some sort of knight too?"

"He's retired. You could tell all that from watching how someone walks?"

Eli nodded. "You can. Might take a bit to notice with some more than others but with him it's a dead giveaway. If you ever want to learn what to look for I can teach you, no problem."

"I'll keep that in mind. Could be useful." Arlo glanced toward the door of the factory; he was tempted to get down and go check on progress but if Eli said Selene almost had it done he was willing to take her word for it. "I need to go on patrol. Would you like to ride along? Get the lay of the land, like you said earlier, and maybe we'll find somewhere you recognize."

Eli seemed to consider that a moment, then nodded; as she stood she whipped her arm and sent what was left of the apricot in hand whizzing toward the compost heap across the yard. Arlo tracked its arc and nodded approvingly as it landed on top and sent a small clump of rotting leaves and cornball husks sliding down the side of the heap.

"Nice throw."

"Thanks. I'll let Selene know where I'm headed and then we can head out."

She headed into the workshop and was back a few moments later; Arlo held a hand out and helped her mount up behind him before nudging Spacer into a trot. 

Across from Selene's shop was Sophie's ranch; as they drew away from the workshop the hissing and pounding noises faded and the soft sounds of cattle and horses started to become apparent. The wheat fields had long since been harvested and as they ambled along Arlo could pick out tracks across the field were someone had been walking and another longer stretch that looked like someone had been sledding there. These spots and of course the areas where the cows and horses wandered had thawed out down to the ground underneath and stood out as dark, muddy spots against the remaining slushy snow that still clung to the ground (and was also a reminder of the mud they had to wade through daily to get to and from the facility as well).

"Were there any farms nears Dubei?"

"On the very outskirts, and also hundreds of community plots on the rooftops."

Arlo blinked. "On the rooftops? How?"

He heard a soft chuckle behind him. "Just a reinforced area able to handle extra weight of soil and water, good drainage, that sort of thing. Almost every roof had some sort of food garden or ornamental one - Dubei loved their greenery. Planters and trees on every street and corner, shelves to let vines come down the sides of buildings. Lots of potted plants inside buildings too. From far off it'd be easy to miss among all the lights, signs, and the glass reflecting everything but down in close, on the streets and in the buildings themselves, you'd see green everywhere."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

He felt movement against his back as she shifted, then "-not when you have AIs specifically handling the work."

"An AI for every task, sounds like."

From the corner of an eye he saw Eli nod. "They did the bulk of menial and hard labor, and of course were invaluable assistants in day to day goings on. Lots of data storage, for one."

"The historical records seemed to suggest AIs did everything for humans."

"NOT everything," Eli corrected, tone firm. "They couldn't do everything. And we couldn't trust them with everything anyway."

"Couldn't trust an AI? But I at least thought they were everywhere."

"They were. But would YOU want to trust every aspect of life to something that was one damaged power supply or corrupted file away from shutting down at the worst possible time?"

"I guess not."

They rode on in silence for a bit; the farm passed by and they were approaching the fields beyond Sophie's fences. He turned Spacer to the right and began to follow the fence line up toward where the air balloon platform was. In full view from here was the water wheel that fed an irrigation system for the tree farm, as well as two towering ruins that were little more than metal husks -- they hadn't held much of importance when they'd first officially been delved into about twenty five years ago and since then they'd been stripped of as much useful scrap as they could without causing them to collapse.

Very carefully he turned his head to catch a view of Eli behind him; she was studying the shape of the ruins in the distance and seemed to be comparing them to the water wheel. He stopped Spacer at the DeeDee stop and shifted to look back at her. "Anything seem familiar yet?"

"I'm...PRETTY sure that rounded building there was a planetarium -- a, uh, a place where you could learn about space and the solar system. That rounded top was usually a theater where you could sit and watch a presentation projected onto the ceiling that, because it was rounded and also huge, seemed to drop you right in the middle of the movie. It's easy to trick the brain into thinking you're moving if you're surrounded with the right sensory information so the whole point of the presentation was to make you feel like you were literally flying through space examining planets."

"Sounds like fun."

Eli laughed quietly behind him. "It was. And it's something I'm sure even your level of technology could replicate."

Arlo smiled a bit at that and guided Spacer off to the left, diverting toward the elevator that led up to the hot springs. As he scanned the area and the bluffs ahead he wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary - there weren't even any footprints up this way. He checked that the elevator was still working as it should and then turned Spacer down the path back toward the road that would lead to the harbor.

Technically he was going well out of the way of his usual patrol route but with Eli with him he wanted to give her the best chance possible to recognize anything in the immediate area; that she'd sort of recognized a planetarium was, he assumed, a good thing, and maybe with a few more landmarks she'd be able to piece together a map of Dubei and know approximately where she was now, 300 years later.

The lighthouse was always in view from almost anywhere you cared to stand once you were south of Sophie's, along with the top of the cargo crane. There was a rumble in the distance suggesting the bus that wheeled around Portia was just past the trees up ahead (that was where the bus stop was, after all) and aside from the soft lapping of waves against the shore there wasn't much else going on out here. He could do a quick loop then circle back north toward Amber Island's bridge, then keep going...

"Was Dubei close to the shoreline?"

"It was built out over the shoreline," came Eli's answer. "Big pylons, gigantic harbor. Docks and walkways. I'm not sure where we are on Dubei's shoreline just yet though."

Arlo nodded and kept Spacer moving at a leisurely trot. Eli seemed a little interested in seeing the "haunted" cave on Amber Island so he made a mental note to make sure she got a chance (knowing Selene if she caught wind of it she'd drag the woman out there herself) and then kept northeast toward Bassanio Falls.

"Is that...desert, over the river?"

Arlo nodded. "It is. Eufala Desert. There's some ruins out that way and Dana's mining operation in Ingall's Mine. If we'd gone across that second bridge we just passed on the right we would've arrived in South Block - it's a tiny outpost right at the edge of the desert." As he glanced back to her he saw her frown, then shake her head. "I'm guessing there wasn't any desert near Dubei in your time."

"No, there wasn't."

She didn't elaborate further; the lift to the top of the falls was where, lately, Arlo had been stopping his patrol route -- now that they were having to keep an eye on the facility in the marsh whoever got the afternoon shift was usually the one who skirted the edge of the marsh and then circled around and down from WOW Industries...

But, the very top of the falls was fairly high up and you could see for miles around up there so that would be the optimal place to have a look from. When they were within walking distance of the lift he got down from Spacer's back and walked the horse the rest of the way; the DeeDee stop would double nicely as a hitching post and there he left Spacer tethered before offering Eli a hand down.

"Let's head up - you might spot something you know."

As soon as they were at the top of the lift Eli immediately spotted the towering ruins of WOW Industries. "Did you people give names to any of these ruins?"

"Not really. But the ones we were able to find mention of, or ones with surviving signs, we just call them by their names. That's WOW Industries."

Eli's eyes lit up. "THAT'S WOW? Well, that's half of WOW. All right...all right, so then..."

She jogged up the path ahead of him and he sped up to keep pace, and then almost collided with her when she abruptly stopped.

"What the heck are THOSE?" she asked then, pointing off to their left where there was a flurry of movement near the tops of the trees.

Arlo squinted off toward where she was pointing and caught the barest glimpse of fluttering wings. "Panbats."

"Pan...bats?" she repeated slowly, turning to look at him in confusion.

"Panbats. They're pests that feed on trees - we had an infestation of them at the tree farm a few years ago. Usually they're pretty harmless but if they're hungry or you scare one they might attack."

Eli continued to stare at him for a few breaths more, then turned on her heel to head up the path further before turning to the left to creep up to the base of a tree; at the base she knelt down, putting the tree partially between herself and the panbats that were flapping around. Arlo came up behind her, counting seven of the beasts; he was more interested in watching how Eli watched them -- he wouldn't say she was sizing them up but she was eying them with far more than a passing curiosity. As they hunched there, observing, Arlo could see one large panbat alight on a bough and pull a shriveled apple free from a dry branch before beginning to suck at it.

"...do you have pandas, and bats, in this world?" Eli asked quietly.

"Bats, yes. Not sure what a panda is."

"Pandas - panda bears. Think...THESE things, but no wings, and about half the size of your horse."

Arlo shook his head. "We don't have those around here, at least. Couldn't say for the rest of the world though."

Eli let out a sigh that trailed off into a faint raspberry noise before she stood and turned back to the WOW Industries building. "Well... The good news is I know WOW Industries, and I know where it was. We're in the southeastern corner of Dubei and now I can also confirm that the shoreline is NOT where it should be, and that none of these bluffs or waterfalls here are where they're supposed to be. It's like...it's like parts of the land got shifted, or sheared off."

He didn't know what to say to that and instead followed silently as she walked up to the building. She stared up at the building and at the door, then circled around the ruin's foundation to the left; there was a flat metal platform here they'd assumed was some kind of loading dock that served double duty as a canopy that covered three enormous pipes coming out of the building. Not far from the edge of the platform was an enormous, wide stone retaining wall that overlooked the eastern border of the Collapsed Wasteland. There was another wall and a line of trees that blocked the majority of the view of the Wasteland from the top of this particular wall - it was hardly more than a crater with a few intact buildings clinging to the land so there wasn't much to see regardless.

Despite the obstructed view Eli was still standing atop the wall and, while he couldn't be sure, it sort of looked like she was measuring distances with her hands - using her fingertips lined up with the landscape and tops of the ruins.

He was content to wait and let her do whatever she needed; down below them he could just make out slurpees wandering about -- he wondered what she'd think of THOSE.

"Oh Fate...why is THIS the way the story goes..." 

He just barely heard her speak. "-huh?"

"Nothing. Just having a crisis of faith. Or, in my case, a crisis of Fate."

"Ah."

She ran her hand through her hair again, and paced back and forth a few steps in each direction. "--what religions even exist now?"

"We have the Church of the Light. There might be others but I'm not sure - I've never been very far from Portia." He waited a moment, watching her pace. "What religions existed back then?"

"Hundreds of thousands. Mine specifically was the Foundational Three."

Arlo shook his head. "I've never heard of that one. The Research Center might have, but not me."

"Great..." she sighed. "Well. The Foundational Three are..." She paused, kicking away snow and ice from the stone under her before dropping down to sit. "Fate. Balance. And Judgement. Fate is the Great Curator, and ensures that every soul born into the world has a story to tell and, when those lives are over, makes sure their stories are made a part of the cosmos. Balance is the Silent Observer - Balance makes sure your life isn't too hard or too easy because too hard means you give up and too easy means you don't grow. And Judgement is the Arbiter, the one who carries out decisions made by Balance. Judgement will remove or place obstacles as needed, and punish or reward those as needed -- those who make it their purpose to make other lives miserable will find themselves on the receiving end of Judgement's wrath, and that's not somewhere you want to be. And on the other end of the spectrum are those who are given a helping hand to overcome their troubles if it proves to be more than they can bear."

She trailed off, staring out at the treetops below them. Arlo likewise cleared off a spot to sit and dropped down next to her. "It sounds like a nice religion."

Eli nodded. "Compared to most I'd say it definitely is. Certainly more kind than a lot I'd heard of back then. A lot of religions threatened doom and hellfire and damnation, or the destruction of the soul, or losing the ability to be reborn into another life - always more threats of the bad things versus promises of the good things. The Foundational Three always made the most sense to me though."

"Why's that?" He asked almost without thinking, then quickly added "you don't need to answer that if it's too personal."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. In fact, the Three actually encourage you to share information and stories. That's part of why it made sense to me...there's things that should be shared, and remembered. And there's proof all around you that the stories told keep echoing - there's a reason people believe in ghosts. Those are just stories that weren't ready to end."

"I'm not sure I follow."

At that Eli laughed quietly, pulling up a knee to rest her chin on it as she wrapped her hands around her leg. "So, you have ghost stories here, right? I'd assume so being as you have a 'haunted' cave attraction." When he nodded she continued. "A ghost is a soul. A story. And sometimes, when someone dies, instead of their story joining the infinite collection the story itself hangs around. Sometimes it's there because the soul feels their story was cut short and they're upset. Sometimes it remains because the soul feels too strong of a connection to someone else's story, and they can't leave yet because their story is still being written, just on someone else's pages. That's how you end up with guardian spirits or the angry, hateful ghosts that appear in scary stories -- it's just someone's life, someone's story, that wasn't ready to close the cover yet. Eventually though the cover closes, the story returns to the shelves, and the details of that story are written in the fabric of existence where anyone, at any time, may catch a whisper of it even if they never knew that person."

She went quiet after that and Arlo mulled over everything she'd just said; it was a neat and tidy way to think of the universe, for sure. There was even a small bit of comfort in it, thinking that both people he knew and also those he'd never known or would ever know would somehow know about him when he was gone...granted, that thought was terrifying too - a bunch of strangers hearing only bits and pieces of things he'd done or the type of person he'd been. Anyone could make any sort of story out of scraps and believe themselves right.

"What happens when you accomplish whatever Fate said your story was supposed to be about?" he asked into the silence.

Eli shrugged. "How would you know you'd done that?"

"...no idea."

"And no one else would know either. Only Fate would. And even stories that seem complete can keep going. The only thing you can know for sure is you have a starting point in your story, and somewhere there's an ending point, but there's an infinite number of ways to get there." She trailed off again, then inhaled deeply and looked over to him. "Though I definitely understand the NEED to know why your story is going where its going. What am I supposed to accomplish?" With a flick of her fingers she gestured to the Wasteland ahead of them. "How in the world does THIS fit into any reasonable story Fate would want to tell?"

He didn't have an answer for that so he just stayed quiet; the sun was setting and the breeze was getting a bit more chilly and out of habit he rubbed his hands together. 

The movement attracted her attention. "We can head back. I've seen enough to have at least some idea of where I am. It's just...staggering that there's so little left."

He nodded and stood, and offered her a hand up; they walked back to Spacer in silence and began to make their way back to Portia.

About halfway there he heard her sigh again - it was more of a groan though. "What's wrong?"

"I just realized something. Something that I was doing."

"What's that?"

"I want to know what happened here, and what that facility actually is and why I was down inside it. And I keep catching myself thinking of those three things - what happened, what it is, why I was there - as all separate pieces of the puzzle, when I SHOULD be thinking of it as one big knot to unravel. Seeing WOW, and spotting the sewer network got me to thinking about what's gone, what should be where, and how the landscape changed and for a moment it was like THAT was the only problem. And I know I'm doing it because, to be blunt, I'm terrified to actually get the answer..."

"I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.

The ride back to Portia was quiet after that.


	8. Chapter 8

It felt like Sunday came a lot quicker than it should have.

As he'd said before he wasn't expecting any sort of trouble - Portia's residents weren't known for getting physically combative during arguments - but still, Arlo had a small ball of anxiety in his gut as he walked down from the Civil Corps building toward the plaza. 

Usually the winter meetings didn't last too long since everyone loved hearing the news but hated standing out in the freezing weather to listen to it; Gale tended to keep these meeting short and to the point, bringing up only major or emergency talking points and plans, and then the next day he'd send out bulletins with the less urgent news and invite the townsfolk to give their input at his office at any time. Arlo had a feeling that tonight was going to have only one major announcement but knew it could go either way on whether the meeting was short or if it dragged on (and if Gale hadn't already talked to Lee about Eli then it was definitely going to drag on).

There was still about fifteen minutes before the meeting would start; Arlo could see shadows cast (on the inside, of course) through the windows of the mayor's office and the commerce guild but the plaza was currently empty. He climbed the steps and pushed open the door to the commerce guild and nearly bumped into Gale's back as the man was standing just inside the door talking to a small cluster of people; he quickly and silently closed the door and moved off to the side to avoid interrupting their discussion.

Selene was there and so was Remington, and there was a quartet of blue-suit-wearing persons Arlo hadn't seen before but he recognized the patches on the arms of their jackets -- those had to be the scholars from Atara Gale had mentioned were coming. Just as he was wondering when they'd gotten here the door behind him opened again and-

"-Mali! Good to see you again."

Much like Arlo had done Mali also had to carefully shuffle around the group near the doorway; to his surprise Eli came in behind her - he knew Eli would be here tonight but hadn't expected her to have already met Mali.

Mali offered him a nod. "Arlo." She gestured for Eli to step ahead of her and toward the little group speaking with Gale; once Eli was over with them Mali turned her attention back to Arlo. "I've been given the short version of Portia's recent events. I came out here with the scholars but four more Flying Pigs will be heading out to help your Civil Corps with security detail."

He wasn't able to keep the look of surprise off his face -- FOUR Flying Pigs coming to help them out? "That's great! Though we did just get a locked elevator car into place - should make things a lot easier to keep an eye on."

Mali nodded, crossing her arms. "I'm aware. I'll be in possession of a key eventually. Is it really true that you haven't found any AIs or security measures down there?"

"It's true. It's very strange."

She nodded again, looking thoughtful. "I've never heard of an Old World ruins that didn't have SOMETHING dangerous active in it."

"The place wasn't really powered properly. Might be the AIs fled when their power sources started fading."

"That's a possibility," she said. "The power cut out right as you found Elizabeth, right?"

"Eli," he corrected. "And, right - it was at 3% when it released her from the tube and then everything shut off."

"We'll have to double check every nook and cranny to make sure nothing's hiding." With that Mali turned and headed toward the small gathering, standing just behind the scholars she'd brought out here.

"Right," he said quietly. There COULD be something hiding down there, he supposed...didn't seem likely, but until they'd investigated every square inch of that place they couldn't be 100% certain.

Whatever the group had been talking about seemed to wrap up a few moments after Mali joined them; Remington broke off from the group with Selene at his elbow, coming over to clap a hand to Arlo's shoulder silently. Selene looked a little nervous too and was furiously scribbling away in a small notebook; Arlo glanced back to the group and saw Eli all but mobbed by the four scholars. For one brief moment she met his gaze and flashed him a wry smile before turning her attention back to the ones in front of her.

They certainly looked the part of scholars; one was a balding gray-haired elderly man with a pair of spectacles perched on the tip of his nose. The other three were all older women (not one of them could've been younger than 50) and all were sporting long dark hair going gray tied up in buns; the middle woman wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, the one next to her had darker skin and a noticeable tremor in her hand when she reached out to shake Eli's, and the third woman seemed far more sturdier than her companions but also thicker in the gut and neck.

In their matching uniforms they at least presented as a neat, tidy, and united group, but he definitely understood now why Mali had had to escort them out here -- none of them looked especially capable of defending themselves against...much of anything, really.

'Probably a good thing we've not found any hostiles down in the facility then,' he found himself thinking.

Thinking on Mali made him wonder when exactly they'd gotten here; he knew the sound of Mali's RS-001 well and knew the plane could be heard coming from a mile away, and he was positive he hadn't heard it approaching at any point this afternoon. Maybe they'd arrived overnight? He'd been sleeping a lot more soundly (and, a lot more in general) lately due to the long shifts out at the guard post for the facility and it was possible he could have "heard" the plane but it hadn't been enough to wake him up.

Arlo dropped his gaze down to Selene and caught a glimpse of what she was scribbling in the notebook - looked like an itemized list of...furniture took up the top half of the list that he could see from where he stood. Probably for the scholars; the Happy Apartments sometimes doubled as hotel lodging so at least each room had a bed in it but they were pretty bare at all other times.

"Big plans, Selene?"

"Huh? Oh - yeah," she replied, glancing up to him. "Gale's going to put the scholars up in Happy Apartments for the time being - that empty house up near Dr. Xu's home needs some renovations and Gale's hiring me to get those done ASAP, and then that's where they'll stay since they'll be here awhile studying our new ruins. Thankfully I already got the elevator car done so I can start as soon as I get home tonight."

"All by yourself?" he asked, eying her. Selene was good but fixing up a house quickly, on her own, seemed like a tall order.

"Of course not. Albert and Gust are going to be handling the plans and assigning most of the construction work. I'll be working with them to get the raw materials processed as needed - boards, nails, screws, bricks, tile, you name it, I have a machine that'll make it. And..." she added, with a sigh trailing off into a growl. "I can dump whatever tasks I want onto Higgins, per Gale's orders. I'm going to have a look through the place after the meeting and then see what bits and pieces I can handle and what I want to trust HIM with." With a roll of her eyes Selene flipped the notebook shut and stuck it into the back pocket of her pants.

"Does Gale know there's four Flying Pig members coming out too?"

Selene nodded. "Yep. Mali said they'll make do with their own camping supplies - and she also said they're bringing more than just tents. They intend to be here awhile."

Arlo nodded at that; the Flying Pigs were an adventuring guild, after all: if anyone would be comfortable roughing it in any weather, it'd be a Flying Pig. 

Remington took a couple steps toward the window and moved the curtain aside just enough to peek outside. "-got a crowd gathering. Not a big one at least but most of the usuals are out there."

Arlo mentally sighed -- if the 'usuals' were out there that meant Lee was definitely in attendance. And so was Nora... That was something he'd been hoping to avoid (he wanted to broach that subject with her personally) but...well, he'd have to handle her reaction the best he could. She was already not exactly happy that he'd been so tied up with guarding the facility's entrance--

"All right, people, all right-" Gale called out. As everyone turned to face him he carefully buttoned up a sweater jacket and gave them all a wide smile. "Time to head on out and greet our fellow Portians. We don't want to be late - it IS rather cold outside tonight."

Being as they were closest to the door Arlo, Remington, and Selene hurried outside and stood off to the side at the bottom of the steps. Behind them Gale, the scholars, Mali, and Eli all filed out and sort of loosely lined up behind the mayor as he took his place at the top step.

Arlo scanned the crowd; he could see Lee and Nora in the back, where they usually stood near the fountain's edge. Xu, Higgins, Paulie, Albert, Gust, Alice, Antoine, Carol along with Mars and their daughters, Dawa, Liuwa, Isaac, Russo, Martha and her son Toby, and Presley were all clustered at the bottom of the commerce guild's stairs, and there were a few curious tourists that Arlo could see that had stopped at the very edge of the crowd.

Glancing back up the steps he could see Eli standing next to Mali; however she might be feeling at the moment wasn't readable in her expression but he couldn't help but notice how rigidily she stood there. For a brief moment he thought her attention flicked to him and he nodded to her but she didn't give any indication she saw.

With a deep breath he turned his own attention outward at the crowd.

\------------------------------------------------

All right...that man in the back, with the graying hair and beard with the gold bead in it. If anyone in this crowd had to be this Minister Lee she'd been warned about, that had to be him. There was a young woman next to him, dressed similarly -- probably the church girl...couldn't recall her name at the moment but Eli knew she'd also been mentioned at some point.

Let's see...there were a pair of men out there that looked identical to Sanwa. Two obvious family groups with how they were standing together (and triplet girls, goodness - did Portia have a reputation for multiple births?), Xu was there, some older folks and some younger folks. 

None of them stood out to her like that minister man did. If there was going to be trouble it was going to be from him, most likely.

In front of her Gale greeted the crowd and told a few jokes, announced a few things about some kind of festival coming up (something about a hot pot) and then reminded everyone about how the end of the year was approaching. She listened even as she scanned over the crowd again; everyone seemed to be in high spirits and willing to joke with one another, and Selene breaking off from Arlo and Remington to go stand in the crowd with Paulie briefly drew her attention before it shifted back to the man she assumed was Lee.

"-now, with the fun things out of the way," Gale went on, clearing his throat. "I have several rather...unusual, as well as highly important, announcements to make. The first is the new ruins out in Somber Marsh are still closed to the public at this time -- our Civil Corps, the Research Center, and our very own Selene are working diligently to make sure the ruins will be safe to visit in the future. Which brings me to the next announcement: I'm sure you've all noticed that Mali is once again here in Portia and that she stands behind me with a group that are strangers to you all."

He paused and there was a murmuring among those gathered; Eli noted a young boy waving at Mali only for his mother to shush him and push his arm back down to his side.

"I would like to introduce to you Edgar, Maryanne, Elsie, and Petunia-" Gale gestured at each as he announced their names - Edgar was the balding man, Maryanne had the thick glasses, Elsie had the weakened arm that shook with every movement, and Petunia was the larger woman. Eli had met them only moments ago -- she'd need to definitely keep the women's names straight as she was going to be working with them down in the facility from now on alongside Merlin and Petra.

'Getting kind of crowded down there...'

"They are on loan, as it were, from the University of Atara and will be helping to study and preserve the ruins out in the Marsh."

There was an audible groan of frustration from one of the men in the audience - Eli's attention zeroed in on the noise and wasn't too surprised to see it'd come from Higgins.

Gale had obviously heard him too, his head turning to peer down at the man. "Now now, I know many of you were hoping to do a little ruin diving or start a salvage operation but these ruins are incredibly well-preserved and we could learn a great deal from studying them." His head sharply turned to fix his gaze on Lee in the back. "This is a MEDICAL facility. What we learn down there could save countless lives across the Free Cities, so while I promise that eventually we will be allowing visitors into the facility I want to emphasize that there will be NO unauthorized salvaging of anything within the ruins."

Eli watched Lee closely as Gale spoke; the minister's lip curled up in mild disgust but he remained quiet. For now, anyway. Maybe he could tolerate the thought of medical information, but boy oh boy she was not looking forward to his reaction here shortly...

Gale clapped his hands together then, and rubbed them together - it seemed more of a nervous gesture than anything to do with coaxing heat back into his fingers. "Now... As a final announcement, and by far the strangest one I've ever had to make." Very quickly he glanced to where Arlo and Remington stood; the two men both gave Gale a nod -- they were watching. "-I'm sure you've all heard about how the ruins were found, and the little rescue mission that was undertaken to retrieve one of our own."

There was another brief burst of murmuring and more than a few heads turning to look at one of the short, squat men; that man in turn rolled his eyes and told a couple of people to hush up, even as his brother elbowed him with a wide grin.

"There was, however, one more person rescued from the ruins."

Eli inhaled slowly through her nose. Here we go...

Gale reached a hand behind him, seeming to paw at the air for a moment before he turned enough to spot Eli behind him; that pawing motion turned into an obvious 'come here' gesture and Eli stepped up beside him flinching a bit as he put a hand to the small of her back.

The murmuring went dead silent, and all eyes were on her.

"This," Gale went on, "is Elizabeth Summers. She is a Dubei native who was found within the ruins, having survived for hundreds of years due to advanced medical technology from the Old World."

The crowd erupted into gasps and hurried conversation, but over all the voices--

"-I thought you were JOKING," Lee called out, eyes wide. "You can't be serious?"

"I AM serious," Gale replied, tone firm. "This young woman here-"

"-not so young now, I think," Eli interrupted, smiling weakly. The attempt at brevity didn't break through the handful of separate conversations going on.

"-yes, yes, not technically young by number," the mayor chuckled. "Regardless of this woman's age however I can indeed state, with total honesty, that she was within the ruins and rescued the same day Dawa was." The man's attention went to Dawa who simply nodded silently, then stared down at his feet as his brother elbowed him again (much more forcefully this time, and with a look of disbelief on his face).

"And just why was this kept from everyone for so long?" Lee shouted - not so much out of anger but more to be heard over everyone. "How many have known that this...this dangerous woman has been within our town?"

"Lee, I'd ask you not to call names or make generalizations with the intent to tarnish reputation," Gale immediately snapped. "If you recall I did try to broach this subject with you several weeks ago but you rebuffed my efforts as some sort of practical joke."

"Because it's impossible!" came the minister's response. "It's nonsensical! And even if this is true, how can you possibly permit anyone with living knowledge of dangerous weapons and technology to roam our streets freely?"

Gale took a steadying breath, lifting his chin a bit so he was ever so slightly looking down his nose at Lee. "As I was saying. Elizabeth here - excuse me, Eli - was rescued from the ruins and has been both recovering as well as aiding our Civil Corps and Research Center members in sweeping the ruins to make sure they're safe. There's been quite the number of human remains located down there, and we will be arranging a mass grave and memorial service for them as soon as we're certain we've found all of them."

"Don't ignore me, Gale."

The portly man was clearly getting agitated; Eli kept switching her attention between him and Lee, and by chance caught the strange look that the girl next to Lee was giving Arlo -- and Arlo had his head down, not looking in the woman's direction.

...interesting.

"Should you wish to discuss this in a civil manner then I am willing to hear your concerns," Gale said evenly (Eli silently congratulated him on sounding a lot calmer than he currently looked). "I tried to give you that chance prior to tonight but, as I've already said, you brushed me off. To answer one of your questions, obviously there are some here in town who knew of Eli before tonight -- it wasn't possible to keep her a total secret. And while many would argue that that's a terrible secret to keep it was a choice I made in order to give her the best chance to recover in peace, as well as give myself time to see to it that she has employment and purpose, and above all felt welcome within a world that's totally unlike the one she lived in centuries ago. And that is my final request before we adjourn tonight: I sincerely hope you'll all join me in welcoming Eli into our community, as you would any other newcomer to Portia."

Lee looked to be seething, and she noticed Xu's brief gesture of encouragement and smile; the rest of the crowd were in various states of shock or maybe that was mistrust? She didn't know any of these people well enough to read their expressions, especially considering how dark it was at the moment. She saw at least a couple curious faces (and that woman had a hand clapped over her son's mouth and appeared to be dragging him away, despite his best efforts to stay put) so...maybe she wouldn't get run out of town by a mob.

"That's all the announcements for this evening," Gale said, looking a bit less annoyed now that Lee wasn't still shouting at him. "As always, Sophie has been kind enough to provide us with pie so please help yourself."

...pie? What pi- oh. There was a table just off the side of the stairs, almost hidden from view since Arlo and Remington were standing directly in front of it. There were lots of covered dishes there but no one seemed interested in getting a slice of whatever pie was underneath the covers.

The two family groups left almost immediately; the rest of the crowd dispersed in twos and threes, heads together and talking. Lee stayed where he stood and glared daggers at Eli; she felt like making a face at him just to antagonize him further since she'd bet actual money that even the friendliest smile she could give him wouldn't change anything.

"Well, that went better than anticipated," Gale muttered. He blew out a long sigh and scratched at the edge of his hairline. "I knew Lee would have his outbursts of course but I DID try to warn him ahead of time..."

A shuffling at the base of the steps drew her attention away from Gale and toward where Selene was dragging Paulie by the arm toward them.

"Gale! Gaaaaaale!" the builder called out. "Higgins wouldn't even look at me but Paulie's willing to help."

The mayor blew out a long sigh. "Probably because I didn't approach him first with the reward amount in hand. Typical. Well, regardless-" he gave Paulie a relieved looking smile. "Good to have your help, Paulie."

"Of course, Mayor. Selene showed me a list but is there anything else we're going to need?"

"No, no, you'll only need to be concerned about just the furniture - and perhaps a strong arm to help Selene with moving materials around."

Paulie nodded and crossed his arms (and somehow managed to fit a flex into the motion). "Not a problem. I can carry anything of any weight, anywhere, anytime."

Selene giggled a bit and bumped her hip into him. "We know, Paulie. You'd try to carry an entire building around yourself if you could figure out how to lift it in one piece."

The little group laughed quietly; Gale adjusted the front of his sweater. "Selene, I'll have Gust or Albert, or possibly both, come by in the morning to schedule a walk through of that old house and arrange purchase of the materials - all paid for out of Portia's budget, of course. None of this need come out of your own pocket."

Selene waved a hand. "Oh pfft - don't worry about it Gale. Whatever of mine I use is just a donation. I don't mind it. And I'll hold off on having a look tonight then if we're going there in the morning."

Gale nodded, then began to head off down the street. "I'm off for home then - have a good evening everyone."

There was a break in the chatter then; Eli looked around and saw that the plaza had fully emptied, more or less. The scholars were being herded toward the Happy Apartments by Remington and Mali, Lee and the little church girl had disappeared at some point, and no one else had lingered to stare. It was pretty cold and she was ready to head inside somewhere herself.

"-how's the casting of that tool coming along, Selene?" she asked the builder.

"I'm got a few molds setting up, then I'll start the metal casting step. Got a few different designs, as it were, because I don't know how much leverage we're going to need to budge those bolts."

Eli nodded. "We usually coated things with a thin protective layer that was meant to prevent sticking but who knows what three centuries might've done to it."

"Are you needing some manly muscle?" Paulie asked, looking between the two.

"Actually, we might," Eli answered. "I guess we'll let you know?"

Paulie nodded, then patted Selene atop the head and gave them a half wave as he headed off down the hill.

"Well..." Selene said, blowing out a sigh. "I'm going to head home - you don't have to come back now if you don't want. I'll leave the door unlocked. Going to be a busy morning."

"I suspect I'm going to be mobbed bright and early by those scholars," Eli said dryly. "I should probably get to bed myself."

Together they headed out of the plaza and down the road that led to Selene's shop. Eli wasn't especially wild about the idea of a bunch of old geezers getting underfoot while they tried to work down there...she probably shouldn't be too hard on them, she supposed. The world had...had lost a lot. A lot of people, a lot of technology, a lot of knowledge. Any chance these people had to recover some of what they've lost would only benefit the world in the long run; Eli was willing to teach and share whatever she knew but, on the other side of that particular coin, her knowledge was somewhat narrow in scope. Just because she knew how something worked didn't mean she knew HOW it worked...knowing how to use something or approximately how it functioned wasn't a guarantee she could assemble one even if she had everything she needed to do that.

It was a concept she hoped she could immediately make clear to those scholars: she wasn't the be all, end all, source of knowledge they might be expecting.

As she walked it occurred to her that the sum of her knowledge were all things that that Minister Lee was likely going to screech about; she chuckled a bit and Selene turned to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing to worry about."

_Don't think about it._

\--------------------------------------------------------

Albert and Gust showed up early as promised; when Eli came out of her room she skirted around the border of the front sitting room where they were conversing with Selene around a table strewn with papers and books, and various rolled up blueprints. The two men eyed her warily as she moved around the room but then she was out the door into the chilly morning where the sun was just beginning to rise.

She'd not slept all that well... Not that she'd been sleeping well since she'd recovered, to be honest -- the bed wasn't hers, the room wasn't hers, every little noise was unfamiliar and the general smell of the room wasn't something she considered to be...hers. It was a strange thing to try and describe, even to herself, but there tended to be scents that you both did and didn't notice in your own home. Smells that undoubtedly marked the place as safe, familiar, and above all something belonging to you. Her current room smelled of wood varnish, with an underlying hint of dust, and the bed, pillow, and sheets smelled new still.

Eli rubbed her hands across her face; just more small details on the massive pile of details that she didn't want to, but really NEEDED to, think about and reconcile with. And the longer she kept putting it off the bigger that pile of details was going to get, and that meant more...EVERYTHING could come crashing down on her at any moment. Would she rather be buried by a mountain or a mole hill? The choice seemed obvious but it wasn't a choice she liked being forced in to.

Well...whatever. 

It was probably too early for anyone else to be out and about in town; she'd gotten her first pay check, as it were, from Gale yesterday morning -- they'd agreed on a bi-monthly payment cycle for her Research Center salary and he'd fronted her her first two weeks of pay so she'd have at least something to her name. How did shops work around here? When she'd gone to Paulie's store with Selene they'd made their order and Paulie had delivered it but at the time no money had exchanged hands (aside from Selene's meager bet earnings), and she was pretty sure she didn't remember Selene paying him when he dropped the furniture off either. Did Portia have a bank? No one had mentioned one yet.

It seemed like she should carry money on her until she was sure how the economy worked, but then how much SHOULD she have? She didn't even have a price context to come up with what was considered pocket change... And, come to think of it, she had yet to even closely study the gols she'd been given -- were there denominations to reckon with too?

Ugh. What she wouldn't give to have her bank chip. And her bank. The pile of details grew a bit larger.

What to do with her morning... She wasn't all that hungry, and didn't have anywhere to be until the scholars came looking for her, or at least until Merlin and Petra were at the center or the shops opened. Maybe a quick walk? There was a path along Portia that would circle her all the way around the town and back to the gates, and would probably (assuming she kept to a leisurely pace) kill enough time to get her through these early hours.

Right as she crossed underneath the stone archway of Portia's gates she heard someone calling her name; coming up the hill on her right was Sam and Paulie, and the woman was waving at her. Eli returned the wave and headed that way, meeting up with them just outside of a little flower shop.

"Want to come for a run with us?" Sam asked.

Eli considered that for a moment; she felt pretty strong, all things considered. Far stronger than she'd been in recent weeks, and she hadn't needed the cane at all in over a month. "Guess I could -- I need to see where my limits are currently sitting."

Sam gave her a half-grin accompanied with a nod. "We'll help get you back into shape, no problem. C'mon - we meet up at the gates and run down to the harbor and back."

That wasn't all that far...Eli was fairly certain she could handle that. The three of them headed up to the gates and stood around, chatting idly, while they waited for Arlo (and possibly Mali - apparently Arlo had invited her along too but no one knew what the answer would be until she either did or didn't show up).

"I know Gale told you not to but I do wish you'd told me about where you came from," Paulie said suddenly. "I would've been happy to provide you some things without charging for it."

Eli blew out a sigh. "I'm not all that comfortable with so much charity, if I'm honest. Dr. Xu, Phyllis, Selene...everyone's been spending money on me and giving me things -- and don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative. It's very touching, and it makes...all of this-" she gestured around herself in a wide sweep, "-a lot more tolerable. Knowing I'm not just thrown out into the world on my own is very comforting. But then I've not really been a person who needs help all that often and needing it now is sort of a..."

She paused, and Sam tilted her head as she looked at her. "-issue of pride?" the woman offered.

Eli shook her head. "Not exactly. More like...embarrassing."

Sam shrugged. "Nothing to be embarrassed about - everyone needs help at some point."

Eli caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Arlo walking down the hill toward them; when he met up with them they all moved together as a group down the road at a moderately quick jog. The cold air was rough on her lungs but the pace was tolerable, and no one talked much as they went. On the way back from the harbor Arlo urged them into a faster pace in quick spurts; she had a feeling he was going easy on them because she was here. On the one hand she found that amusing but on the other she probably shouldn't push herself too far too quickly. She was missing muscle mass and while she was fine at the moment she could definitely tell the centuries had done a number on her conditioning and fitness.

When they got back to Portia they came to a meandering stop at the fountains; Sam and Arlo did a few stretches but Paulie headed off immediately down the street toward his shop. 

"All right. I've got to go relieve Remington," Arlo grunted as he stretched arms above his head a final time (Eli heard a few loud, deep pops - likely his shoulders). "Sam, please let me know when the Flying Pigs arrive. I didn't hear Mali show up at all yesterday."

"Probably because she didn't bring the plane," Sam replied. "They came by bus. Mali said Asher would be piloting the plane in with their supplies and the rest of them."

"Aha. Well, good to know I didn't just sleep through it or something."

Eli looked to Sam curiously; a plane? Planes still existed? Or had they been rebuilt? ...wait, no - what was considered a "plane" in this time period? "A plane?"

Sam nodded, turning her attention to Eli. "Yeah, Mali's got one of the few functional planes left over from the Old World. We've had some other flying contraptions built since then but not a lot of them are as complex as her RS-001."

"A... You're kidding." Eli started laughing - she couldn't help it. An RS-001 had been a relic even in her time. "I can't believe one of those survived."

Sam let out a short huff of a laugh. "Do you know how to fly one then?"

"Good grief, no - those things were old tech, even for us. I think that was a prop plane? We didn't use propellers on our craft unless it was water-based, and with those the propellers were underwater for propulsion. All our flying craft used high-powered turbines or -- ...um." How the heck did she explain the anti-grav hover units? "Have you run into any AIs that could hover?"

"A couple, yeah."

"Ok, imagine that but big enough to budge something up to a hundred times bigger than an RS-001."

"That's huge."

Eli nodded. "They could get pretty big." She glanced around; Portia seemed to be waking up and there wasn't any sign of the scholars just yet. "I think...I'm going to go visit a shop or two, get an idea for how much things cost and how much pocket money I ought to be carrying around. All I know right now is about how much food costs and food isn't something I can wear."

The three of them split up; Eli headed down the street to the clothing store she had spotted next to Paulie's store. She could sense eyes on her as she walked and saw more than a few faces peering at her from the windows as she went. She arrived at the shop right as a woman opened the door and flipped a sign over to read Open; above the door to the clothing shop was a large sign that read Total Tools. Clothing and tools inside the same storefront...odd.

The woman gave her a hesitant look that turned into a nervous smile. "Oh, uh. Hello there."

"Good morning." Eli paused where she stood a moment. "-uh. All right. I'll be honest - I'm in need of clothing but I have no idea how your economy works or what anything costs. I've earned some money but don't have it on me since I didn't know how much I'd need and a lot of coins can get pretty heavy. My hope is you won't mind me looking around to see if there's still things in my size available, and then I can run back to my room and grab whatever I need to pay for it."

The woman listened to this quietly and didn't respond immediately; in the awkward pause after she went quiet Eli could see the woman was growing a little less tense and seemed to be sizing her up -- not out of hostility, but more...gauging her actual size. "Well...that seems reasonable. And I'm sure I still have some things that ought to fit. If not we'll see about altering them."

Eli nodded and walked up, extending her hand to her. "Thanks. Eli. Well - Elizabeth Summers, but I prefer Eli."

The woman shook the offered hand after a breath or two. "I'm Carol. Please, come in and have a look around."

\---------------------------------------------------

This time Arlo both heard and saw the RS-001 fly by overhead. A few hours later and he could pick out Mali's figure on the horizon, and with her were four more people; all five of them were carrying heavy packs. They came up to the little guardhouse and sat everything down -- looked like they had lugged out at least one heavy duty tent and other various camping tools and accessories.

Mali gestured for the four Flying Pigs members to start unpacking. "-set up over there, to the right. Looks flat enough and the guardhouse ought to block some of the wind." She looked to Arlo then. "Are the trees up here owned by anyone?"

He shook his head. "No. Nothing in the marsh is on any one person's property - it's just Portia's, in general."

"Good. We'll be careful in how we collect firewood so we don't harm the area."

"The tree farm can help provide wood I'm sure."

"Gale's looking in to it to give us an idea of what can be provided." Mali looked over to the elevator car then. "That's the only way in?"

"That we've found. There's an area that's caved in down there so it might be possible a second entry point was buried a long time ago, but it's also just as likely that we haven't opened the right door yet to find another entrance. The place is enormous and we've been trying to quickly search the rooms for any remains," Arlo answered. "It's also a bit of a mess down there in terms of power hook up since what we have isn't nearly enough to power a facility this big."

Mali nodded again, rubbing a hand against her chin and looking thoughtful. "Do we have any more updates on that tool needed to get the power back on?"

"Selene said she had molds ready but then the scholars came and now she has to scramble to help get a home renovated for their use."

"Not ideal but I guess we'll have to wait on that then. Unless the Research Center could take over that particular aspect?"

"Merlin and Petra don't have any sort of production or manufacturing machines," Arlo answered, shaking his head. "If it's not something they could do with their own hand-held tools then they have to ask a builder for assistance."

"Selene's not the only builder around though. Is there anyone else who could step in?"

"Not with Selene's level of automation and production, but even then ever since Selene showed up people have been relying on her more than Higgins since she's -- well. Not Higgins," he said, emphasizing the last two words. 

Mali chuckled. "Always knew his attitude would come back to bite him. At least it gives us time to get set up out here."

At that she glanced over to where the other four were unpacking one large tent; it was especially thick canvas, wide and long but not all that tall, and the bottom edge of the canvas seemed to be doubly reinforced with more fabric. Arlo watched them a moment before turning his attention back to her. "-are you in need of anything aside from food supplies?"

"Don't suppose you know a source of readily available stone?"

"Sort of. How much are you needing?"

Mali gestured for him to follow her as she headed over toward the set up area. "Enough to line the bottom. Saves on tent pegs needed and reduces drafts coming in under the bottom flaps."

Arlo eyed the tent, mentally gauging its size. "Got it. The places I know we can quarry freely that would already have some spare stone lying around are pretty far away. There's some cliffs around here but you'd have to break the stone loose yourself. Regardless of where you go though it's all far enough away you're going to need a wheelbarrow or wagon to haul it here."

"We'll ask around for one."

With a nod Arlo stepped in to help with the tent set up; along with being wide and long it also had a separate small section that covered a hole in the top of the canvas, like a tiny roof, but it left a three-inch gap all the way around the "roof" base. It was obviously meant for ventilation so you could have a campfire inside the tent itself - smoke would rise and go out that gap with ease; that would definitely make staying out here easier, if not downright cozy. When they had the tent up they left Asher (a tall, muscled blond man with a scar across the bridge of his nose -- a deep one too: if you looked at him in profile you could actually see a divot) to look after the campsite and the facility entrance as Arlo led the rest of them back into town to borrow a wagon from Sophie. The rest of his afternoon was spent collecting stone and hauling it back to the campsite to line the bottom of the tent; Sam eventually came out to take her shift at the guardhouse, leaving Arlo free to head back into town.

Nothing seemed amiss in Portia as he walked back through the gates; inside Django's he found the round table in the middle taken up by the scholars and a tired looking Eli. For a brief moment their gazes met and he thought about joining them but she seemed to have it well in hand even though it seemed like the scholars were hardly giving her a chance to answer before bombarding her with another question. He offered her a quick wave and headed over to a stool at the bar, plopping down and trying to quickly make up his mind on what he wanted; his go-to dish was usually a plate of hot spaghetti but he'd been eating it a lot lately -- staying out at the guardhouse so much usually left him too tired to cook anything when he got back to town. In order to stay fit he should get back to the more varied diet he had before.

"Hello Arlo. The usual?" Django greeted him as he came around and behind the counter to take his order.

"Not today. How about an order of mapo tofu and a bowl of spicy fish soup?"

"Not a problem." As Django headed off to cook Arlo leaned his elbows on the counter and put his chin in his hands, and closed his eyes to listen to the chatter behind him.

Seemed the scholars were rapid-fire questioning Eli about the Old World nations and what had set off the Calamity, and Eli was sounding increasingly frustrated each time she answered something with 'I don't know, I was probably in the tube by then.' It didn't seem like it was sinking in with them that Eli hadn't been...awake? Hadn't been aware might be a better way to put it, but however you wanted to word it they didn't seem to grasp the fact that Eli hadn't actually been fully present when the Calamity hit. She'd been living a normal life, gotten bombed while sitting at a watch post, and then had awakened to a new world, and now she had to deal with giving detailed explanations for one question only to bounce back to 'I don't know' with the next one.

He was debating coming up with a reason to 'rescue' her again (come sit and discuss the facility? ...no, that wouldn't work, the scholars would probably want to butt into that conversation) when Sonia and Django both showed up with his food, and Sonia also sat a tall glass of rainbow lemonade in front of him too.

"Thanks."

As he picked up his fork Sonia leaned over the counter toward him, glancing between him and the group at the table behind him. "So...what's she like?" she whispered. "Is she as dangerous as Lee wants us all to think?

He huffed out a quick sigh. "No, she's not. Whatever he may have said about her isn't true."

Sonia blew a strand of hair out of her face and straightened her headband. "She's been the talk of the town all day and Lee is out there trying to convince everyone she's going to, like, run off to somewhere and build something dangerous and come back to claim Portia for herself, or make weapons and give them out to anyone who asks."

This time his sigh was a drawn out and frustrated one. "Really?" Sonia nodded. "Great. I'll have to let Gale know. We can't have anyone spreading misinformation about someone else, no matter who's doing the talking about whom. Lee hasn't even talked to Eli directly yet, I bet."

"And I doubt he will," Django said. "He's a stubborn one, but a man of conviction. Really stands behind and clings to what he believes is right."

"Yeah, well, if what he believes is right isn't ACTUALLY right then he needs to stop talking," Sonia grumbled. She came around and hopped up on an empty stool, propping an elbow on the counter and twirling a strand of hair around a finger. "He thought Ack was going to be super dangerous too but all he wants to do is cook."

"Lee's right in that some Old World things are highly dangerous. But to think EVERYTHING from the Old World is dangerous isn't a sustainable belief." With that Arlo jabbed his fork into a chunk of tofu and brought it up to his mouth, blowing on it as it steamed just below his nose - that familiar burn of spicy sauce lit up his nostrils and after a few breaths he took a bite and gingerly chewed the still-slightly-too-warm tofu.

Sonia got called away to refill drinks at the center table; Django seemed content to be quiet and survey the room, letting Arlo eat in peace and it didn't take long to more or less inhale the food and wash it down with the lemonade.

"No sign of any trouble down there, right?"

Arlo shook his head at Django. "The only thing we've found down there that's able to move around is Eli."

"Huh. Interesting."

"It's odd, to be sure."

He got a second glass of lemonade that he drank much more slowly; as the spicy burn in his mouth faded he could actually taste it now, and the chatter behind him seemed to be fading too. All at once there was a chorus of scraping chair legs and as he glanced over his shoulder he caught sight of the scholars heading off together in a group, chattering excitedly to one another and laden with scribbled notes and several books each. He turned on his stool to see Eli tipping back her glass and draining it, then holding up a hand to Sonia as the woman approached.

"I'm done, but thank you. What's my portion of the cost?"

Arlo watched as Sonia surveyed the table to double check what was Eli's. "-looks like just 70 gols."

And now he watched as Eli looked everything over. "-that's the cost and you're not tossing something in for free?" Sonia gave Django a very quick look at that and Eli raised an eyebrow. "What're you trying to slip in for free?"

"Just the drink. Don't worry about it - it's just 15 more gols, no big loss. Consider it my welcome gift to Portia," Sonia said with a grin.

"All right. Well, thank you. I hope to stick around and not cause trouble. Or at least not any more trouble than I already have."

Sonia rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't worry about Lee - he'll come around. He didn't like Ack either at first."

"I'm told this Ack is a cook. I'm not."

"I didn't think we'd get lucky enough to get two Old World cooks back to back," Sonia giggled. She perched on the edge of a chair next to Eli. "I know you just got bugged by all those bookworms but can I ask some questions?"

"What's a couple more after a hundred?" Eli replied, shaking her head. She seemed more amused than anything. "Go ahead."

"You don't have to if-"

"It's fine," she interrupted. "I doubt you could be worse than that lot - here's a helpful life tip: if someone says they don't possess knowledge of something, rewording your question six different ways won't make that knowledge appear from thin air."

"Ugh. I can only imagine, and I only heard like a third of the conversation anyway," Sonia said, huffing a bit. "I had to ask at least that many times just to get their orders."

"Tunnel vision. Anyway, go on."

Sonia clasped her hands together in her lap and leaned a bit toward Eli. "This is going to sound silly but what was the fashion like back then?"

Arlo had to quickly turn around to keep from laughing at the absolutely bewildered look on Eli's face.

"Ah..well...uh, so. Dubei had a couple million people in it. Fashion was kind of..."

Eli trailed off; Arlo wondered if she was wishing the scholars would come back.


	9. Chapter 9

With one of the Flying Pigs standing watch up above (and since they were camping out here anyway there would ALWAYS be someone watching the entrance) Arlo and the rest of the Civil Corps were free to head down into the facility to help herd the scholars along. With the power still off they had to drag around the power stone brackets still if they wanted overhead lighting rather than relying on flashlights and lanterns; Arlo was getting pretty practiced at opening up the wall paneling and wiring those up now and was looking forward to having the facility's lights powered properly so he wouldn't have to do that every time the scholars moved on to a new room.

Today wasn't especially exciting; the scholars had picked one of the floors full of the dorm rooms (but free of skeletons) and were carefully examining each room and taking copious amounts of notes on each and every item inside, where it was sitting, and, in the case of the technological gadgets left behind, what its function was (or what they THOUGHT it was - Eli was downstairs with Petra and Mali so she wasn't available to confirm or correct their guesses). He wasn't paying close attention to the scholars or their note-taking - it was very easy to be distracted by the thought that he was standing inside some ancient person's home; all the other ruins he'd been in previously had all been industrial and manufacturing, not domestic. It was a strange feeling to catch a glimpse of one way that Old World people had lived, and aside from the technology it...didn't seem all that different from his own room.

For one fleeting moment he wondered if in another three hundred years they'd be studying what existed now but considering a Calamity was what put them in this current situation in the first place...he certainly hoped people in the future wouldn't need to study his time period in this manner. It was a good thing to know history but he felt there'd be a big difference between studying what was LEFT of a civilization compared to studying the PAST of a civilization.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps in the hall behind him; as Arlo stepped out of the doorway he could just spy Selene approaching in the dim light.

"Trouble?" 

Selene shook her head at him and waited until she was closer to respond. "Nope! I've got the tool - well, tools - done. All shined up and ready to go. Had a small problem with air bubbles in the first casting but these are attempt number two and seem to be perfect."

Arlo nodded to her then gestured for her to lower her voice. "Eli, Mali, and Petra are downstairs somewhere. I'm babysitting up here."

"Oh." Selene's face scrunched up. "Well, that throws a wrench into things."

"How's that?"

"Well, Paulie wasn't free today and we might need muscle. I figured you'd be willing to come along to get that panel loose. Guess I should've asked someone up top to come down as back up."

Arlo blew out a sigh and looked over his shoulder toward the room the scholars were poking around in; he'd been told not to leave them alone, no matter how safe it seemed. And he didn't want them underfoot while they were trying to repair whatever this relay box thing was. "I can't really leave this group alone otherwise I'd be happy to come lend a hand."

Selene ran a hand through her hair, huffing. "All right...uh... I'll just pop back up top and get Asher to come do it, or take your place, or something."

"You know, between you, Mali, and Eli, you might not NEED extra muscle," he called after her as she turned to head back the way she'd come.

She waved over a shoulder to him but didn't turn around. "Not taking that chance!" was her reply, and then she was little more than a distant silhouette in the gloomy lighting.

"Something the matter?"

Arlo turned to find Edgar poking his head out of the room. "-nah. Nothing at all," he replied. "How much longer did you all plan to be down here?"

Edgar squinted at him a moment, then licked his lips and pulled a small, battered pocket watch out of his jacket. "Let's see... Was about half past ten when we got to this floor and -- hrm. We HAVE been at it a bit."

Being as he didn't carry any time pieces himself Arlo actually had no concept of how much time had passed. "Maybe a break is in order?"

"Let me..." Edgar trailed off as he ducked back into the room, and Arlo could hear a murmur of voices inside.

After a moment it occurred to him he could possibly catch Selene before she got too far - if this group was going to go take a lunch break then he wouldn't have to babysit. "Selene? Selene!" He jogged down the hall, trying not to inhale the little puffs of dust wafting up from the old carpet as he went.

\------------------------------------------------------

"I question how we can even get all the ones we've found out of here."

Mali's voice echoed strangely in this room; it looked like a conference room, or maybe a classroom. Eli knew they'd already been in here but it had been a quick scan and then back out - no one had died and been left behind in this particular room so the first time through they hadn't looked too closely but now they'd returned to check for any doors they'd missed on the first sweep, and to also check on all the doors they'd assumed went to closets or other such storage areas. 

"I'm...not really sure," came Petra's voice from the other side of the room. "We need to do it soon, and respectfully of course - we can't just toss them into baskets, but the skeletal remains are dry and loose and they won't keep together if we try to move them."

Eli was only half-listening from her spot at the door, fiddling with the inner bits of the panel next to the doorway; they had a cluster of the power stone brackets they were hauling along with them to patch into the lighting system and this one was proving especially tricky to hook up. It looked like the original wiring to this room had been shorted out at some point, and whoever had replaced the wiring had picked the cheapest wiring in existence; each time Eli tried to clear a bit of the wire coating to wire the bracket in the bared section seemed to disintegrate and begin unraveling.

In the far distance she heard a ding of the elevator opening, and not long after a concentrated beam from a flashlight began to flick up and down the floor back where the hall didn't have any brackets wired in. Eli clicked the torch off and returned it and the snips she held to the toolbox she'd borrowed from Selene, then rubbed the palms of her hands against her thighs to scrub away the grime as she stood to meet whoever it was coming down the hall. Eventually Arlo and Selene came into view and Arlo turned the flashlight off once they reached the lit section of the hallway.

"Hey, you two. What's the word?"

Selene grinned widely at her and waved her hands at her; in each hand she held two tools apiece - they were long-handled and glinted in the light. "Are you ready to pop a panel free?"

Eli chuckled; the last she'd asked the builder about those tools Selene had explained some issue with air bubbles in the cast that meant she had to redo it but now, here she was with the tools in hand. "As ready as I can be since we don't know what's gone on behind it." She moved away and into the room, picking out where Petra and Mali were now both working at prying open a door on the left wall that had been tucked between two built-in shelving units that had effectively hidden the door from view if you were standing in front half of the room. "-hey, Selene's got the tools done."

"That's good news," Mali grunted. She and Petra together shoved and the door grated open and slid into the wall to reveal a storage area that was litle more than a short hall lined on either side with floor to ceiling shelves. "-would you look at this - this one isn't empty."

Not empty? Eli jogged over, leaving Arlo and Selene in the hall; inside this storage area were boxes of more manuals and textbooks. "I wonder why there's so much emptied, and then random little spots like this that've still got things in it."

Petra carefully pulled a manual free and thumbed through it. "I haven't seen or heard of anything like this one before." 

Eli looked over her shoulder - it appeared to be a technical readout of the inner wiring of some sort of machine but she didn't immediately recognize it. She gestured for and then was handed the book and turned it over to read the title: Surgical Veterinary Assistant Guidance System. "...starting to get a real weird feeling about this place if now we're finding animal texts in here." She turned it over in her hands a couple of times - why would there be a veterinary-based surgical machine manual down in a research center, but no hint of anything animal related?

With a shake of her head she returned the book to the box and led Petra and Mali out into the hall to meet back up with Arlo and Selene - they'd already grabbed the toolbox and some of the brackets out of the hall. "Seems we've got tools to work with - time to go see if we can get into that relay box."

It was a bit of a walk from this floor to the correct one; on the way down in the somewhat crowded elevator she found herself wondering how she ought to be feeling about this.

The relay box was basically the last remaining obstacle between her and the All Source AI -- between her and finding out what happened here so long ago. It felt a bit like a massive monolith just beginning to peek over the horizon, with it growing ever bigger the closer she got to it: she was walking toward something that was certainly going to crush her, one way or another, and yet she needed it to, no matter how much it was going to hurt. But the problem with gargantuan things toppling over is oftentimes other people got caught in the crush radius too...

When the doors dinged open Eli cleared her throat. "Can I ask a favor?"

They all stepped out onto the landing and paused there, waiting for her; Eli moved out behind them, and for a moment paused to wonder if what she was about to ask would be for the best. Or even if they'd agree to it.

"When we get the All Source on, I'd like to privately talk to it first," she continued. "I'd rather not have what personally happened to me broadcast to a group of people before I get a chance to reconcile with it. All I'd need is an hour, give or take, to get my questions out of the way."

"Seems reasonable to me," came Arlo's immediate answer. As he looked between the other two Eli waited and fixed her gaze on some indeterminate point further down the darkened hall.

"I have no problem with that," Mali replied.

Selene nodded. "Me neither."

Eli blew out a breath she'd not been fully aware she'd been holding. "Ok. Great. Thanks." That had been easier than she'd thought...whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

They trudged down the hall in silence then until they came to the reinforced paneling that hid the relay box (or, as Eli suspected, hid the maintenance tunnel that accessed the box). Selene plunked the toolbox down and carefully sat the special-made tools on top of it, then began to feel along the edge of the paneling to check the bolt heads there.

"None of these seem broken or the heads stripped out," the builder murmured as she inspected. "Assuming we've got the elbow grease needed to pop them loose I think we'll be fine."

Eli glanced over the tools again; they all looked mostly the same except for varying thickness in the necks, shafts, and sockets. "Do we want to try just one at a time or one on each side of this panel at the same time?"

Arlo bent to pick up one of the tools, hefting it. "Let's try one at a time first to see how hard it is." He stepped up beside Selene and fit the socket of the tool over one of the bolts.

"Righty tighty lefty loosey," Eli said, standing off to the side to avoid being in the way but also so she'd have a clear view as he tried to get the bolt loose.

He checked to make sure the socket was on all the way and tight, then began to push; Eli could see him straining almost immediately -- despite his own muscle and utilizing a bit of his own body weight as well it didn't look like it was enough (he seemed like a fairly strong man so she assumed it was more the fact that bolt hadn't moved in over three hundred years moreso than any suggestion of his actual strength).

"That doesn't seem like it wants to budge," Arlo finally puffed, stepping back and panting a bit. "Maybe we can pick a lower one for better leverage."

Leverage...ah. Eli bent down and sat the spare tools off to the side, then opened the toolbox and rummaged around until she found a ratchet wrench with a large enough hole in one end that it could slide over the end of the bolt tool. "Here, try this." She slipped it into place and stood back; it added a little over a foot of additional length to the handle.

Arlo stepped up to try again and Mali moved up with him as, with the added length, there was enough room for both of them; on Arlo's count of three the two of them began to push and finally, just barely, the bolt began to turn. It took several more minutes of huffing and puffing but finally there was a tinkling of metal hitting the floor as the bolt was freed and bounced down the hallway several feet.

At the look on their faces Eli chuckled. "There we go - one down, nineteen more to go."

\----------------------------------------------------

The bolts thankfully had been the hard part; actually muscling the panel out of the way had been a simple task, and then they were greeted with the sight of a claustrophobic access tunnel stretching off into the dark. Eli ducked into the opening and shone a flashlight up the tunnel to reveal an absurd number of pipes, cables, and electrical panels lining otherwise plain concrete walls to either side with an equally plain concrete floor beneath their feet.

She knew what a relay box looked like but had zero idea where it'd be back here. "All right...I'm going to head in and look around. There's not a lot of room back here or anything to see so stay put until I find it, then bring the tools on in and we'll see what we're dealing with."

"Do you think you can fix it?" Mali called after her as she began to head down the tunnel.

"I know HOW to fix it. Whether I CAN is going to depend on what's needed and what tools we have," Eli called back over a shoulder.

The light of their headlamps grew more faint as she got further along; there was something oddly comforting to be surrounded on all side by things she found familiar. She could almost pretend she was...home. That all of Dubei was still above her head.

_Don't think about it._

The tunnel stretched on for quite a distance - enough so that she had to turn off her own flashlight to catch a glimpse of the lights from where she'd come from - and then abruptly she smelled...dirt. Rock. Dust.

'Oh come on - please don't let this section be caved in...'

She didn't have a great mental map of this place yet but if where she was currently was in roughly the same quadrant as the cave in that had collapsed part of the room with the tubes... 

"Oh thank the Three," she muttered as finally, up on her left, a gigantic blocky box marked with all sorts of hazard stickers and warnings appeared in her flashlight's beam. There it was - the relay box. Wherever the dirt she was smelling happened to be it wasn't an immediate problem.

Pauline hadn't been able to tell them what was wrong with the relay's connections, only that some connection error had occurred and that as a result everything had been taken offline as a precaution - there was roughly a 50/50 chance it could be a major problem. Wedging the flashlight between her shoulder and the side of her head Eli ran both hands along the relay box's outer edges - if this thing was locked that was going to be a hassle but typically things kept behind secured panels didn't also have keys to worry about. She found a latch that was molded to fit over a handle but it was thankfully not locked down and also wasn't fused in place from age; she flicked it open and then had to struggle a bit to get the handle to turn but soon she was swinging the door open and finally looking over the inside of the relay box.

A familiar array of switches, buttons, screens, fuses, and several neat bundles of wires were inside and at first glance nothing seemed amiss. Taped to the inside of the door was a handwritten maintenance schedule and she could just barely make out the names and dates in faded ink -- it looked like the routine was checking roughly every three months which was at least proof that people had been doing what they were supposed to be doing so, theoretically, there shouldn't be any other missed issues that might have occurred prior to everything going to hell-

_Don't think about it._

Experimentally she reached out to rattle a few switches; they moved without too much protest so she took it as a good sign that the hardware wasn't too ravaged by time. Now to just...figure out what went wrong and where, fix it, and then get power to the signaler inside (it was usually hooked to a battery back up but that would definitely be dead by now) so it would in turn signal back to the reactor that everything was back in working order.

Then, assuming nothing else had broken in the system, everything ought to start coming back online. And they'd probably have enough time, if they hurried, to get from this floor down to the AI's room and be there when it "woke" up.

She reached up to grab the flashlight off her shoulder and then rotated her neck a bit to work out the cramp that'd been forming due to the awkward position that was basically trying to press her ear to her shoulder with a flashlight between the two; it was a quick jog back to fetch the others and lead them to here, and then while she, Petra, and Selene stayed behind to examine the relay box Mali and Arlo decided to move ahead to look for the source of the earthy smell.

"Ok..." Eli muttered. Where to even start... Nothing looked wrong so they'd have to check everything, piece by piece. "Let's start with the wire bundles. See the connectors on the end? There's a trio of screws holding each end in place - do you have a screwdriver that'll fit those?"

She moved aside to let Selene get closer; the builder woman eyed the nearest connector for a few breaths then bent down to her toolbox and dug around. "I think I do. I know I've got a couple pocket knives with blades thin enough to slip in there if need be." She popped back up with three screwdrivers in hand and carefully tried each before returning one of them to the box. "-all right, I've got two."

"You and Petra get to work disconnecting the bottom connectors on these bundles here, and I'm going to try and get that screen worked loose so I can get check the inner bits."

It was a bit cramped working in such close quarters together but Petra had a steady hand, Selene never seemed to tire, and both of them were paying enough attention that they weren't tripping over each other or Eli down in the floor working on a lower screen. By the time she'd worked the screen free they had all the wires loose and ready for her to inspect.

"Did you notice any damage?" she asked as she stood.

"I did, actually," Selene answered. "One of these connector rings was cracked, and the little...um, what's the term..."

Eli stretched a bit before focusing on the wire end Selene had in hand -- at first she didn't see anything odd but then Selene turned the end toward her and there, glinting dully, was the issue. "Aha. How the heck did that happen..."

The connector end had a pattern of pins inside it - several were visibly bent and a few of those were reduced to fragile, corroded needle-like remnants. It was anyone's guess how the pins had been bent, or when -- it could have been an unnoticed factory defect, or a careless worker. Whatever had caused the pins to bend they hadn't been bent enough to completely lose contact with the receiving socket, meaning this wire wouldn't have been plugged in securely and those pins would have had just enough contact to be steadily damaged by uncontrolled arcing until it reached an error threshold letting the system know something was awry.

She was only vaguely aware of Selene at her elbow snapping fingers and going "pins! That's the word" as she looked the end over. There was no chance in hell anyone could make a connector like this - not anymore. And it would be a simple thing to switch out if this place hadn't been mostly emptied. There was the one hastily converted storage room down on the same level as the All Source where they'd found replacement components for various things but there wasn't a guarantee they'd find the correct connector piece down there...there was a slim chance they'd find another storage closet that still had things in it, like Mali had earlier, but still there wasn't a guarantee they'd find what they needed.

Eli blew out a sigh and looked around. "All right...here's our choices: we backtrack down to that one room that had the cords and lightbulbs in it, and hope we get lucky. Option number two is we hope we come across another closet that happens to have what we're looking for in it. And then there's option number three, where we play everyone's favorite game."

She trailed off, thinking back to what she'd already walked by; those had all been smaller boxes, it wasn't likely they'd have the same connectors as the relay...

"...a game?" Petra repeated, looking puzzled.

Eli looked over at her and smiled. "The name of the game is 'What system can we take apart to make a more important one work?'" She dusted her hands off and stepped around Selene to head back down the hallway to take a closer look at the individual power boxes.

"That sounds like an awful game," came Petra's response behind her, along with her footsteps following along.

"It is. But it's a good game to know," Eli laughed. "I'll sweep this hall first and see if I can save us a trip."

\--------------------------------------------------

Selene loved the fact that each time she came down here she learned something new about Old World tech. Today's lessons were how to beat the 'game' Eli had introduced them to, and how to dismantle most of the room-sized generator that was the auxiliary power unit of this place; Arlo and Mali had found where the walls and ceiling had buckled further along the maintenance tunnel but in an intact room before that point they had found the aux power generator, and they'd all spent several hours painstakingly taking it apart and looking for the correct wire end. Then, she'd watched Eli splice the new end on, plug everything back together, then Selene learned how to patch in "battery" power (which was just a power stone bracket, of course) to get a signal sent to the main reactor.

And then, a few minutes later, a deep hum rumbled through the entire facility a few moments before lights began to flicker back on.

It was incredibly exciting to see the halls completely lit, as they'd been three hundred years ago. And when they'd gotten down to the All Source's floor that middle glass-enclosed section was lit up with a soft white, all the way around -- like the glass itself was glowing. 

This place seemed a lot more inviting now that everything was lit up like it was supposed to. Eli had gone in to speak with the All Source AI Stewart, and the rest of them had detoured into that one storage room to take inventory and more closely study the crates of texts left behind. It was definitely easier to carry out both tasks with an overhead light as opposed to a lantern or flashlight and Selene was amazed to see that the printed words and illustrations in the books hadn't faded at all despite their age. The manuals probably wouldn't be too useful right now since they were for machines that didn't exist anymore (MOSTLY didn't exist...there WAS a manual for what looked like the same type of machine as the Uplifter but it wasn't the same company - the one they'd found was by the Xander Company, and this manual was for a Surgitech) but there were anatomy books galore and quite a few that detailed diseases and injuries and their treatments. 

'This room is a doctor's treasure trove,' she found herself thinking, and then giggled a bit at the thought of how much studying Dr. Xu would be doing -- would he want to learn everything himself and then teach others? The university in Atara would definitely be interested in these books too...the thought of transporting them anywhere felt unreasonably risky to her though, the more she thought about it. She could very well be holding information no one on the planet knew anymore, and to risk losing that information to accidents, or theft, or... It was information that needed to be taught to the doctors of the Alliance as well as their allies but it was faintly nauseating to think how easy it'd be to lose this knowledge again.

And some of these manuals, geez... They were definitely worth hanging on to just in case they ever found any of these parts or the machines themselves but it was such a depressing reminder of how much the Old World'd had, and how little progress they'd made to claw their way out of the Age of Darkness. She'd thought they'd been doing well with the small factories (her own included) and the recovered relics...ha. It seemed like a big joke now with it spelled out in front of her face in printed text, nevermind the fact they were walking around in a massive reminder of what the world had been like once. At the very least if, in the future, they had the means to reproduce these parts, they already had the technical read outs to assemble everything. It wasn't much but it was a small silver lining.

Selene stood and stretched, and plopped down three more texts into a crate they were going to carry up tonight. "Do you think the clinic is secure enough to hold these?"

Mali didn't look up from the text she was thumbing through. "You think someone would try to steal them?"

"It's a possibility, isn't it? We've had break ins at the Research Center and the like. If someone decides Old World knowledge isn't worth keeping no matter what the subject matter is..."

Arlo lifted down a crate from a chair to the floor, carefully closing the crate's lid. "It's a possibility but I don't think it's a very high possibility. There's a lot more than just books that a thief could take from the clinic - things that would probably be more valuable to your typical thief and easier to use or sell, and they would have to know the books are even there before they could be tempted to break in to take them."

"It's likely the university will request to take custody of these," Mali said. "We can make sure they stay safe while in Portia and if or when the university requests them I'll make sure they're well-guarded on the trip there. I might not be a medical expert but these could be the most valuable things we've ever found."

They kept sorting in silence for a bit then; they were making good headway on getting everything sorted by subject matter and re-packed into crates. If Selene brought her wheeled dolly down (the one that converted into a sort of wheeled platform, not the one you piled things on and leaned back) they could get ALL the book crates out in two trips. That would leave just the component crates down here and those probably should stay down here where they'd be close to the things they belonged to...would be rather silly to carry something out only to need it later and have to tote it back down.

Speaking of later, how long had they been in here? Eli had wanted an hour or so but none of them had a watch to know how much time was passing.

"I'm going to go peek in at Eli," Selene announced into the silent room. "Check up on her, you know?"

No one seemed to have a problem with that so she headed out of the storage room and around the curved glass wall with its soft white light illuminating every step until she came to the door that led into the All Source's room. It was still wide open but when Selene poked her head around it she was surprised to see the room was empty save for a--

Eli had said the All Source was a mobile model, so that...that weird looking thing in the middle of the room near the pillar with the screens and door had to be it. It looked like a jointed doll about six feet tall and was a mix of smooth white metal with silver accents that glinted under the ceiling lights, and across its back and on the backs of its arms and legs Selene could see various sizes of sockets -- which made sense as she knew AIs, living or otherwise, had to be able to connect with some sort of power source or computer system. When the AI turned to face toward the door Selene saw its head was a near perfect oval with a projection of a face hovering out in front of a smooth "face" dotted with tiny glass spots that she assumed was the source of the projection.

She watched that facial expression change from an idle look to one that looked generically friendly - like someone trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Greetings, human. May I know your name?"

"Uh..." Selene blinked at the AI - whatever she'd expected to find in here, this wasn't it. "Selene."

The AI's expression flicked briefly to a "!" symbol and then back to a more casual smiling face. "Aha - I know you from Pauline's logs. A pleasure to meet you face to face."

"Likewise...uh, Stewart, right?"

"Correct. I am this facility's All Source AI."

"Where's Eli?"

Stewart's expression flickered again, rapidly switching between what she could only describe as surprise, alarm, and uncertainty before returning to its smiling one. "Ah. Well. After our discussion she wanted some time to mull things over. -- oh, yes. She asked me to make certain you or one of your companions took this to the surface."

The AI smoothly moved over to a nearby computer console and picked up what Selene thought was just a piece of paper; she noticed as Stewart moved that his head remained at a stationary height - sort of like what chickens did if you picked one up and moved them around. She extended a slightly shaking hand to take the paper from him and found herself holding an itemized print out with...

"Are these names?" she asked, looking between the AI and the paper. It looked like names with a string of alpha-numeric information after it.

Stewart nodded. "They are - names, as well as location designations. Pauline's logs were limited to what personnel had access to her services - MY logs encompass the entire facility. This is the list of missing persons that, according to various factors including logging or clocking in and out and biometric readings, did not make it out of this facility when Dubei was attacked."

Selene looked the list over again and then looked back to Stewart, eyes wide. "There's over three hundred names on this!"

"Indeed. We - and largely Dubei - were not prepared for what we suffered that day. Many did not make it out to safety."

"But...but...we've not even found all the people Pauline said were missing. How can there be almost two hundred more people down here?"

Stewart clasped his hands behind his back in a strangely human way. "You will note I've provided the last known locations of every person I am aware...expired, so to speak, down here. I am also aware that I have no sensor activity in well over half this facility so I imagine if you haven't found them yet they are within the half that I have no access or contact with. Likely due to catastrophic damage."

Over half the... Oh. There was one entire side of the elevator shaft leading down here that they couldn't open -- they had tried to pry one of those doors open and found a hallway with its ceiling just barely hanging in there and holding back the tons of earth and rock over it. Dana had said it was way too dangerous to try and fix the hallways on that side so they'd built over it and reinforced everything to keep it from collapsing further. "Yeah, there's...there's an elevator down here and the western side was in danger of caving in further. We shored it up and closed it off."

Stewart nodded, then his face disappeared and the projection grew in size; Selene jumped back a bit as suddenly a giant 3D map was hanging in the air between her and the AI and then stared in amazement at a towering building reaching into the sky and deep into the ground -- this was a full map of what she was standing in, including a detailed visual of what the above-ground building had looked like over three hundred years ago.

"Based on what I can 'see,' so to speak, and what I can't, I believe your missing personnel would be located in these places-"

The above ground portion flashed red several times and then became grayed out; below it were what looked like a half dozen elevators but all but one of these also flashed red then grayed out along with the floors they connected to. Along the one remaining elevator the western side of it turned a bright red and traced along all the connecting lines of the map to outline what Selene knew was the half of the facility they could no longer access -- this place, in its prime, had been nearly four times as large as what they'd already explored! 

In the reddened western part of the map circles began to appear around rooms across various floors, and then in the side that she and AI stood in more circles began to appear as well. She didn't think there were three hundred total circles but considering the level of detail that would be needed to show that it was probably for the best - the projected map would need to fill this entire room to avoid clusters of visual clutter that would happen with individual circles for every person missing.

"Geez..." Selene whispered, backing up a bit more to try and take it all in at once. She tore her attention away from the floating map to stare down at the list of names in her hand; Gale wanted a list of the persons so they could be carved into a memorial but...

Oh.

Oh wait.

A name caught her attention - _Darren Summers._

"Stewart - who was this?" she asked, jabbing a finger at the 27th name on the list.

The map disappeared, leaving afterimages in her eyes, but soon Stewart's face returned and the AI carefully bent over to look at the list as Selene hastily turned it over so it wouldn't be upside down to it. "-ah. Yes. Well. I imagine you can guess already, if you're asking me about it."

Stewart's floating face switched to something resembling discomfort and embarrassment, and Selene had to fight to keep herself from balling up the list of names and chucking them across the room. 

"Where did she go?"

"Back to surgical lab 3948A9-Z1."

Selene almost tripped over the edge of the door as she turned around and ran for the elevator; when she got back to the room with the tubes, where they'd found Eli in the first place, she was out of breath and the ever-present cold air down here hurt to inhale.

But, there she was.

Eli sat in the floor near the base of the tube she'd inhabited for over three hundred years; she had one leg tucked under her, and the other leg was bent at the knee and pulled in to her chest so she could wrap arms around it and rest her chin on them. When Selene came in Eli looked up at her, expression blank and eyes dull.

"...Eli, are you ok?" Selene asked quietly - so quietly in fact she wasn't sure if Eli could ever hear her at this distance.

For a long moment there wasn't a response, and it wasn't until Selene was almost across the room to her that Eli stirred a bit where she sat. 

"You know," the woman started, voice low and catching a bit. "It was a lot easier to pretend that maybe he lived out the rest of his life, to the best of his ability, while the world fell apart around him."

On the run down here Selene had, despite her best efforts, somewhat crunched up the list of names; she smoothed it out between her palms and looked again at the 27th name.

_Darren Summers, surg. lab. 3948A9-Z1._


	10. Chapter 10

On the morning of Winter Solstice Selene found Eli outside exercising; in fact, over the last three weeks that's how Eli had started her mornings. She knew the woman wanted to get back to her pre-tube physique but she hadn't been pushing herself this hard before -- discovering her dead husband had triggered the change in her and Selene didn't know what to do about it.

'Hopefully Dr. Xu is making headway...' she found herself thinking as she headed over to the corner of the yard that Eli had taken to exercising in. It was a fairly flat area, mostly shielded from the sun in the afternoon and evening, and would have thick grass coverage once the seasons changed; it also was outside of the stable area so there wouldn't be animal droppings to worry about either. Maybe she could pave a small area to give Eli something solid to exercise on too? And when spring arrived with its downpours a paved spot would keep her out of the mud as well...Selene mentally stuck it on her To Do list.

Eli was currently doing push ups, and doing them really damn well -- far better than Selene could ever hope to do. She didn't look up as the builder approached, and Selene waited silently and counted out 52 push ups (and who knew how many she'd already done before Selene had even come outside) before Eli finally came to a stop and shifted her legs around to sit cross-legged in the cleared area of frozen grass.

"Did you still want to go to the Solstice gathering?" Selene asked. For a long moment Eli was silent, then she simply nodded; Selene returned the nod and smiled at her. "Yay, all right -- did you want to be the bringer of cheese or the meats?" She took a step back as Eli got up; once the woman was up and out of the shadow of the edge of the nearby stables Selene could see sweat droplets sparkling in the woman's eyelashes and a thin sheen of it over her face -- she'd need to get inside and get dried off before she froze.

"Cheese, I guess."

It wasn't enthusiastic but she'd take it. "Ok then - I'll go get the foodstuffs while you get cleaned up. We've got a couple hours before everything starts but usually people gather early to watch Django get the hot pot started. It'd be a really good time for you to meet and mingle, talk to people."

"I don't know that I feel up to mingling."

"Oh. Well, uh..."

Eli gave her a strained smile. "Sorry. Don't mean to make things awkward, I just..."

Selene didn't press her to continue; instead she nodded and led the way back into the house where Eli disappeared upstairs to her room and Selene turned into the kitchen. She'd bought some nice cuts of beef and chicken and a very soft and delicious white cheese from Sophie and Emily a day ago. After her first Solstice in Portia Selene had decided to vary what she brought each year; the first time she'd brought diced up layered carrots and last year she'd brought cornballs from her own garden which had turned a small spot of the pot into a spicy chowder. This year would be the first time she'd brought any meats. Hopefully they were sliced thin enough that they'd cook up quickly once they were in the pot...maybe she should have checked with Django first. Oh well.

Eli should at least be well-received for bringing the cheese; the soft white was a Portia favorite and it tended to sell out quick when Sophie had a new batch ready to go.

A quick glance in the fridge showed that the wax paper wrapped around the meats hadn't leaked, and there weren't any grease marks on the paper bag that the cheese was in - it was nice to see that she wouldn't need to put them into other containers or worry about the bags ripping on the way in to town. Selene grabbed a potato fruit fritter out of the bag next to the cheese (she liked Sophie's pies and fritters, what could she say?) and retreated to a chair, slowly munching on the fritter as she waited for Eli.

She was washing grease off her fingers when she heard Eli coming down the stairs; the Dubei woman was combing her hair off to the side as she walked, and was wearing a sweater Selene hadn't seen before - it was a burnt orange color with goldenrod colored trim along the sleeves and collar.

"That looks nice. When did you get that one?"

Eli glanced down and smoothed down the sweater's hem. "Couple days ago. Carol was nice enough to tailor it a bit so it fit better across my shoulders."

"Going to need a lot of tailoring soon, huh?" That got a faint smile from Eli; Selene grabbed the meats and cheese and led the way out of the house toward Portia's gates. "What were celebrations like, in the Old World? Were there a lot of holidays?"

"Saying there were 'a lot' would be a massive understatement. You could find a festival or holiday going on almost every other week," Eli answered.

"Wow... That sounds hectic, but also fun."

Eli shrugged. "Isn't that true of any holiday?"

"True. Oh, here-" Selene briefly spun around and walked backwards, holding out the bag with the cheese in it. "Best cheese anywhere around."

Eli took the bag and tucked it into the crook of her elbow. "So...how does this festival work?"

"Well, we have a giant hot pot that Django gets started with a broth base. We wait 'til it gets boiling, then everyone starts tossing ingredients in. Everyone is welcome to eat as much as they want and because of how big the pot is you'll find little pockets of dozens of different flavors -- and, when we're done, all the leftovers are divvied out to everyone to take home, or available to eat for free at the Round Table for the next couple of days. After we've all eaten we have a snowball fight -- or, WOULD have a snowball fight. What snow that's out in the fields right now isn't all that packable since it's not fresh so I'm not sure if Gale has something else planned instead. And THEN, after that, we all take pictures together."

"...'all,'" Eli repeated. "Who does that include?"

"Everyone in Portia, if they want to," Selene giggled. "I help build the riser platforms each year. When we're done with the hot pot and everyone heads off to the snowball fight I, Paulie, and a couple others move the pot out and get the risers in place for when it's picture time."

"Are the pictures just...for free? For anyone?"

Selene nodded. "Yep. And a lot of the pictures get printed in the newspaper too so even if you don't manage to grab a copy today you can clip it from the paper later."

They were approaching the central plaza now and Selene could already smell the vegetable broth; Dawa and Paulie were standing near the massive hot pot helping Django feed logs to the fire burning beneath it. Gale, Gust, Ginger, and Russo were already there too, and so was Carol and Martha and standing with them were the triplets, Toby, and Jack as well. Their arrival immediately caught the attention of the children; Selene subtly moved Eli around the plaza's edge in the opposite direction.

They stopped at the benches over near the Research Center and Eli sat down, and sat the bag of cheese on the bench beside her.

"That is definitely a large hot pot."

"Yep. No idea who first forged it but it's been in use for awhile - not sure what they used before. Maybe just a giant cauldron or something."

They sat and waited, and watched as more of Portia's residents began to show up. There were a lot of curious and uneasy looks tossed their way; few people seemed willing to do more than nod or wave, and Selene was pretty certain most of the friendlier gestures were aimed at her and not Eli. Really made her wonder what Lee might have been telling others since Eli definitely hadn't done anything to warrant the weird looks she was getting.

Eventually, as more people showed up and more greetings were exchanged, Martha's attention wandered enough that Toby broke away from the group they were all standing in and as Selene suspected the boy made a beeline toward them.

He stopped just short of the bench, eying Eli for a moment or two; despite having a heavy coat on along with his backpack he had managed to also strap a wooden practice sword to his back and the handle jutted awkwardly over his left shoulder.

"Hi! Are you really three hundred years old?"

Eli blinked at the boy for a moment, then sat up a bit straighter. "I think I'm closer to 370, but yes."

"What did you do in the Old World? Were there adventurers?"

Selene watched as Eli's gaze moved from the boy over to where his mother was standing and chatting with Carol and Alice; after a pause Eli looked back to Toby. "I was a ranger. It was a type of soldier."

"Ha!" was Toby's response. "Django said there was more to you than it looked! Did you fight in the war? Did you shoot robots with guns? Was there really robots everywhere you looked? Did you use only guns or did you still use swords and stuff? Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Toby, one at a time," Selene interrupted dryly. Eli got bombarded enough as it was thanks to those nosy scholars.

A small smile crossed Eli's face. "I didn't fight in the war - I was already injured and inside that tube by the time the Calamity hit. I'm not even sure what event started it. As for AIs - yes, we had a lot of them. They did a lot of the work for us, but not ALL of our work. We didn't use swords but we had some long-handled machetes as part of our camping kits and if we fought in close combat we had bangsticks. They were these metal rods of varying length that, if you swung and hit something with it, would release a little electric shock with a loud bang, hence their names. And, I know how to dance with a sword but not how to fight with one."

Selene had been listening quietly as Eli rattled off the answers to Toby's rapid fire questions but the last answer caught her attention. "Dance?"

Eli nodded. "Dubeian saber dancing. Was a hobby I picked up when I was a teenager and carried it along while serving - I wasn't especially limber or graceful but it was still fun."

Toby pulled a face. "Dancing? That sounds boring."

"Maybe, to someone who hasn't ever seen it. You started out with plastic practice props, worked your way up to wooden ones, then blunt metal, then sharpened metal, and the last 'rank' was sharpened metal with a middle, inner strip that you lit on fire."

THAT got Toby's attention. "You danced with fire?"

"Me? No. I only made it up to the sharpened metal rank - live steel, as it was called. Once I was out of school I only got the chance to study and practice when I was on leave from active duty."

"That sounds pretty neat, actually," Selene mused. "Sounds kind of dangerous too though - a sharp edge AND fire?"

"It WAS dangerous, and that's why it was fairly challenging to work your way up the ranks. You learned the basic moves with the plastic, then added weight and balance with the wooden ones. From there you began picking up the advanced stuff with the heavier but blunt metal props, and you needed a perfect score from a certified instructor to move on to the sharpened ones. When you got to the sharpened rank you had to have so many hours of supervised practice as well as a certain number of dances performed and scored by eight different instructors, all perfect scores and with no injuries or else you had to start over and put in the time and effort again. Being as it became something I did on the side to keep myself busy when I was on leave I never had the time to put together the dances or log the hours needed."

"Are you bothering Eli?"

Selene jumped at Arlo's voice and spun around to find him standing behind her with his arms crossed and his attention squarely on Toby. 

Toby jutted his lower lip out at Arlo. "No! I'm learning about the Old World."

"Fine, but your mother is looking for you either way."

"Aw man..." Toby slouched off through the crowd back toward Martha who greeted him with a glare and what Selene imagined was a very short and to the point lecture on running off when she clearly wanted him to stay put. He...did that a lot, and could probably recite any lecture by heart now.

When he was gone Eli leaned back against the bench and stretched her legs out. "He wasn't bothering me. Just asking questions."

"Fair enough. Martha WAS actually looking for him however."

Selene shifted around to perch on the arm of the bench, looking up at him. "Are the scholars going to work today too?"

"Not that I know of. Gregory and Adam are going to stay out at the sinkhole just in case they do, and also to keep guard. Mali and the others planned to come take part in the festivities but I've no idea if the scholars will too." Arlo glanced over a shoulder and skimmed the crowd, then returned his attention to Eli. "I did want to mention that Lee gives a sermon every year before we eat - whatever he might say today know he's more or less said something similar every year. This might be the one time I can honestly say it shouldn't be personal."

Eli nodded but didn't say anything in response. After a few moments Arlo moved to sit on the bench with the bag of cheese between himself and Eli, and not too long afterward both Sam and Remington found them and stood about chatting as they waited for Django to signal that the broth was ready; it already appeared to be boiling and Selene spied what she thought were vegetable bits floating around in it. Shouldn't be too long now.

"-Eli, I had a question about Stewart," Sam suddenly asked, abruptly changing the subject away from the weather.

"What about him?"

They'd all had a chance to talk to Stewart at least once now; the All Source AI was polite and helpful but Selene found his constantly shifting facial projection to be massively distracting.

"What are we going to do with him?"

That was a question Selene had thought about too. Wendy, the other All Source AI they'd found, was currently in the Research Center and wouldn't be able to ever leave it now that her original power supply had been damaged beyond repair -- she'd always be tethered to the power supply they'd rigged up for her. Stewart, on the other hand, had been specifically built to be mobile; his inner battery needed repair due to the ravages of time but he was confident they could fix it even with limited technology, and that would leave him with about three months worth of power if he was forced to go without his docking station. Could they move his docking station out of the facility and figure out how to power it up here? It seemed like a huge waste to leave him down in the facility or for him to walk back and forth between there and town.

"I'm not sure yet," Eli answered after a lengthy pause. "He seems convinced the reactor is still fully functional for now, so we've got a bit of time to figure something out. But he'll have to be moved somehow -- the fuel inside a reactor has an expected lifetime and to be honest I'm surprised it's still working after all this time. It won't last forever though, and there's no way we can make more of what fuels it."

"We were able to make a new power source for Wendy," Selene said. She glanced toward the Research Center -- Wendy had seemed satisfied with the power output of the high voltage dual engine set up they'd put together. "Could we move the docking station and make do like we did with her?"

Eli was silent for another long moment - Selene could only imagine the calculations going on in her head. "--it's...possible, I guess. But it'll need a lot of room, first and foremost - we'd need his docking station for sure, along with his memory cores and server banks, and then space enough for whatever power source we come up with to run it all. He might need his own dedicated room entirely."

Remington's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "He really needs that much power? That much room?"

"Yeah, that seems-" Sam paused, then shook her head. "Wendy didn't need that much of either. What's the difference?"

"They're different models," Eli answered. "They might both be All Source AIs but their duties are drastically different and they have different specs. And I bet if we could find Wendy's original memory cores and servers her power and space requirements would shoot through the roof too."

Selene huffed out a sigh at that. "Man...we've lost so much, haven't we? I hope we haven't damaged Wendy on accident."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Eli replied, looking over to her. "If she says she can manage with her current power level then she knows what she can and can't safely process."

"What would happen if we got her hooked up to more power?"

"Probably nothing. Her memory cores aren't attached and she's not connected to anything else to warrant more power right now."

"She DID say that she couldn't teach us anything because all she did was give orders, but she's given us a few blueprints since she said that," Selene said slowly, tapping a finger against her chin as she thought - what did a memory core or server bank even look like? "If she had her memory cores, would that make a difference in what she could teach?"

"A huge difference. You can't teach something if you don't remember knowing it in the first place. With her it's likely she DID know the inner functions of certain technologies but that information was stored in a separate memory core than what she's carrying onboard now. If we separate Stewart from his servers and cores he'll lose a lot of what he knows too."

"Which seems like a poor idea," Arlo broke in. "Having those medical texts is helpful but having something on hand that actually knows it and could teach it to others is way more valuable."

Sam shrugged. "The clinic DOES have that storage room upstairs, and also the space around it to add on another room or two - it'd make more sense to install Stewart in the clinic than it would here at the Center, since he's a medical AI. I think it was just last year that Dr. Xu was talking to Albert about a possible expansion too."

Remington shook his head at her. "He only did that because Phyllis wants to open her own office. I think the plan was adding on and giving that space to her to start out with but she found a place out in South Block that she's trying to buy instead. He probably wouldn't say no to an expansion to house Stewart but I don't know that any plans or budget from before would be useful now since he wasn't factoring in an All Source AI's needs."

Selene stood up and stretched as she noticed Gale taking his place at the center of the crowd. "Eh, leave it for another day - looks like it's about time to start."

Portia's townsfolk had all clustered around the hot pot and Selene and the others were basically at the back of the group; Gale was a little hard to hear but, as he did every year, he greeted everyone and then invited Lee to start his sermon.

\-----------------------------------------

Eli listened quietly as Lee detailed how, after the Calamity, the sky had darkened and sunlight had disappeared. AIs had gone rogue, crops were failing, people were starving - humanity already pushed to the brink was getting even closer to extinction. To hear that finally, in a moment of need, people came together to ensure survival was nice...even if the story as a whole was very bleak. 

'To think I outlived all that because of a stupid tube and science I can't understand...'

One of the first things she'd asked Stewart was why she was down there - why she was in that tube - and the AI couldn't tell her.

Not because he didn't know but because he'd been ordered not to tell anyone outside of the project involving the tubes. And what that project was was also something he couldn't share, and no amount of administrative access he could grant her would give her access to those files. He couldn't go against his orders or his programming and had been very apologetic but ultimately she'd gotten nowhere with that subject.

The rest of her questions had been directly answered, at least, and it painted chaotic, terrifying, and destructive final days for the facility and the people of Dubei.

First had come a bombardment from orbital railguns. Eli hadn't even known there WERE railguns up in orbit, and if they had fired freely on Dubei she imagined no one in charge had known they were there either (or if they HAD known, why weren't there defenses in place?). Who could have gotten railguns into orbit without anyone detecting them? Maybe they were inside something else...hidden, so that no one would suspect. And if that were the case then it could have been any nation behind it, and while Eli knew diplomacy had been breaking down she didn't think the Generals would have kept something this potentially devastating a secret...

Then Stewart had detailed how, in the immediate aftermath of that first attack, a small group of unknown assailants had forced their way in and appeared to be there to steal top secret information from various government-funded research projects. Stewart didn't know what files in particular they had come for but they were systematically searching floors and attempting to breach his encryptions and firewalls before they'd been subdued either by security or by circumstance; the orbital bombardment had leveled over half the city and obliterated that part of the facility that had been above ground, and the damage had caused the air filtration and circulation system to go haywire during the infiltration. Several of the underground sections were subsequently flooded with such severely polluted air, smoke, and particulates that it had caused many to suffocate (even some who had tried to get protective equipment on had been killed before it made a difference) before Stewart had been able to get the systems under control again and broadcast an order to begin evacuation once the intruders had been dealt with. 

A small silver lining to this was the suffocation had taken out some of the attackers too, though their losses paled in comparison to the number of employees that had died. There was a mad scramble by those left to try and pack and prioritize, and to the credit of the survivors a lot was able to be salvaged and taken with them as the remaining living AIs were able to carry a lot more than a human could. But it was during the rush to leave that they'd been hit with a second bombardment and Stewart lost all contact with the surface world. In the chaos of the second attack Stewart had issued a total evacuation order: if it couldn't be immediately carried out on one's person then it had to be left behind...supplies, personal effects, the fallen, _everything_. Those few that were left alive to hear the order made it out through old maintenance tunnels.

And that was it. Ever since then Stewart had been the lone guiding force within the facility and had struggled to keep it functional (especially after an earthquake struck about 73 years after the second bombardment and had destroyed even more of the facility), and make certain that the remaining stationary AI assistants like Pauline as well as Eli in her tube survived until help arrived (something Stewart admitted he had lost hope for several times over the centuries).

That was a touchy subject... Eli had been in a tube, and so had all but two of her squadron. It had definitely hurt to know that most everyone she'd worked with AND her husband were all dead in the same room she'd spent over three hundred years "sleeping" in and that it had only been sheer dumb luck that the earthquake's damage hadn't reached far enough into the room to take her out too. Thinking about it, even briefly, was enough to make her eyes sting and well up and she quickly squashed it down and tried to focus on the end of Lee's sermon.

Better times... Yeah, compared to what she'd been told had happened, and what had been been endured, these times were certainly better. Humanity had a future even if it felt like she didn't.

_Don't think about it._

At least, don't think about it until the next session with Dr. Xu. Or, bare minimum, she should aim to make it through today without falling apart.

"-all right, time to start adding things."

Eli flinched a bit as Selene - she hadn't even noticed the woman had moved from the other end of the bench - grabbed her by the elbow and tugged her toward the enormous hot pot, giving her only a moment to pick up her sack with the cheese in it; Arlo stayed with them and had produced a small bag of eggs from somewhere - she was about to ask where he'd been hiding it when she noticed Sam pull a cluster of some leafy green herb out of the bag she seemed to carry everywhere. She handed whatever the herbs were to Remington and then pulled out a parcel wrapped in wax paper; Sam wasted no time in approaching the pot and dumping the contents of her parcel in and Eli watched as a small shower of tiny meatballs plopped into the boiling broth.

"What'd you end up bringing?" Remington asked then. He had a small pocket knife in hand and was carefully cutting off the string that held the bundle of herbs together; she caught a whiff of it as well as a closer look and thought it was coriander.

Eli opened her bag and pulled out the chunk of cheese inside it, and managed to smile a bit as Remington's eyes lit up at the sight of it. 

"Ha, you actually managed to get your hands on some of Sophie's cheese? That'll win you a lot of friends today I bet." He wiped the blade of the knife clean on the hem of his shirt then offered it to her, handle first. "Here, this'll help."

The cheese was the size of her two fists put together and it cut smoothly. She did notice a couple of approving looks as she dropped the first few pieces into the pot and watched as it melted and floated on the top almost like a cream.

"Should I try to spread it out?" she asked, glancing over to Remington; Arlo and Selene seemed to have moved on to other spots around the pot, chatting with the other townsfolk as they walked and dropped in cuts of meat and freshly cracked eggs at random intervals.

"You can, or you can claim a little spot and let others come to you," Remington answered. He started gently twisting the coriander into small handfuls that he sprinkled over a wide area of the hot pot's surface; the boiling broth quickly sent the little green bits floating away or sinking inward.

Along with the sudden surge of various types of foodstuffs appearing in the pot there were a lot of people and a lot of separate conversations going on around her; for now she decided to slice up about a third of what she had and spread it in the same area. As she was carefully cutting off a few more slices one of the short, hairy men appeared at her elbow with what looked like fresh fish fillets.

"Hey, look at that," was the man's greeting as he spied the cheese in her hand. "I always end up eating all that myself when I manage to get my hands on it."

She recognized him in that he was identical to the three others like him that she'd met, but his glasses were more opaque and a different size and shape than the ones his brothers wore. Quadruplets? "Would you like a piece to eat?" She cut off a decently thick bit and offered it to him; he accepted it with a grunt and smile and popped the whole thing into his mouth before beginning to carefully slip the fillets into the broth.

"-so, you're Eli. I'm Qiwa. You meet the rest of my brothers yet?"

"I've met Dawa, Sanwa, and I saw a third brother on the night I was introduced but I'm guessing that wasn't you. How...uh, how many of you ARE there?"

Qiwa began to chuckle, and didn't respond until he had all the filets in the pot; after wiping his hands on his shorts (Eli couldn't fathom how he wasn't freezing) he began to point to various spots in the crowd. There was Dawa, and Sanwa, and there was...three, four, five...

"-there's SEVEN of you?" she asked, looking down at Qiwa in amazement. "What's in Portia's water and should I be concerned?"

That got a deep belly laugh out of Qiwa. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it! We at least color code ourselves."

He kept on laughing and Eli shook her head - seven identical brothers, good grief. She cut a couple more slices of cheese and let them drop in; Qiwa headed off, still chuckling, and for a brief moment Eli was left standing more or less by herself as people milled around. Seeing that the pot was pretty cheesy where she was standing she decided she would move around after all and carefully edged off to the left toward a dark-haired woman who was carefully adding in what looked like dumplings but before she got too far another woman stepped in her path and cleared her throat.

"Oh, uh - hello." Her brain stalled on the woman's name; she knew she owned the bakery and she recognized her from earlier when Arlo had sent Toby scampering back to her.

"Hello. Sorry to bother you on a holiday but could I have a word in private?"

"Sure." Eli returned the cheese to the crumpled up bag and tossed the knife in with it as well, then tucked it under an arm and followed Martha - THAT was her name, right - as the woman headed over toward the far wall and gate that led out of Portia.

Once they were away from the crowd Martha inhaled deeply and seemed to be trying to force a smile but it didn't quite cover up how tense the woman seemed.

"You might have guessed this already or been told but I'm Toby's mother," Martha started. "I know he ran off earlier to pester you with questions and now all he can talk about is you being a soldier and fighting robots."

Eli winced a bit. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to-"

Martha waved her hands and shook her head. "No, it's not that - I'm used to him being a nuisance and overly excitable when he gets fixated on something. It's more that I know exactly what he's going to do next and I wanted to ask you NOT to indulge him."

"...huh?"

Martha sighed and ran a hand over her headband and then through the hair it was just barely holding back from her face. "His father was an adventurer, and it got him killed. Toby is dead set on being an adventurer too, and while Django has been humoring him and teaching him some very basic swordplay I know without a doubt that he'll come asking after you to teach him how to fight as well. And I don't want you teaching him anything, because I don't want him encouraged to go off into the wilds like his father did."

...well, that's not what she'd been expecting. Eli mulled that over for a few breaths - it was a reasonable enough request, on the surface. "I can abide by that, sure. Can I ask you something, though?"

"Oh good! And, of course."

Eli shifted the cheese from one arm to the other, turning her head to skim the crowd and pick out where Toby was standing with the other children again; he had that practice sword in hand and was waving it wildly as he spoke, and the others were laughing along with him. "I don't mean for this to sound insulting or belittling, but how confident are you that you can keep him from running off, if he's determined to follow after his da?"

Martha's expression faltered a moment and then she sighed heavily. "Well...so far I've not had much luck..."

She trailed off and Eli nodded, more to herself than to the woman -- that was what she thought the answer was going to be. It would seem little boys are just as headstrong now as they were three hundred years ago; it was a bit endearing but knowing how concerned Martha was just based on how she was acting now... 

"I won't teach him anything if you don't want me to, but it sounds like - at least for the time being - he's not going to let go of that particular dream. And if that's the case, maybe he SHOULD be learning how to take care of himself in a fight." She turned her attention from the kids back to Martha. "Since you worry he's going to run off anyway learning how to handle himself in a dangerous situation and how to deal with injuries and survival techniques would be valuable information for him. THOSE are topics I'm well versed in, and I wouldn't mind teaching him. But, I've got an idea for a compromise: I could bore him to tears with it in the process and see how much he likes the adventuring life then when he gets to see what all is needed for it."

Now it was Martha's turn to mull things over, glancing between Eli and Toby but seeming to be looking through them rather than at them. "I...didn't think of it like that. I try not to think about it in general because I just don't want to lose him like I lost his father. And, what do you mean when you say you could bore him?"

"I am definitely well-practiced in not thinking about things," Eli said quietly. She took a breath and then flashed Martha a half-smile. "And yeah, bore him with it. If we make learning the skills and the act of adventuring seem like more trouble than its worth that might work better than forbidding him from doing it. He's a kid after all: I've not met a kid who didn't push boundaries or rebel against their parents. This might be a phase you can turn him away from but if not at least he's not walking out into the wild unknown not knowing a thing about how to take care of himself. -- and actually, I had another deterring idea. How's his grades?"

\----------------------------------------------------

After the hot pot gathering they'd all gone out into the fields for the largest game of "flag tag" Eli had ever participated in. Everyone was exhausted and muddy by the end of it but they all remained in good spirits as they trudged back in to town to goof around in front of cameras (old-fashioned film cameras...another thing that had been old even in her time).

While she'd admittedly not felt like mingling or even really felt human this morning Eli found she was glad she'd let Selene drag her out. The weird looks had mostly stopped by late afternoon and while only a handful of people had been brave enough to walk up to her she felt less...like an outsider, more or less. And she hadn't run into that minister either so the whole day had been pretty peaceful; she had a small photo of herself with Selene, Xu, Arlo, and Dawa posing beneath the large tree that took up the center of the plaza, and her jacket smelled faintly of wood smoke as she walked back toward Selene's place.

In the morning she'd be heading back into town to meet Martha at her bakery, before Toby had to be at school. He didn't know it yet but he was about to be offered survival and combat lessons, taught by Eli, on the condition that he had to get high scores on all his schoolwork for the next two quarters.

Martha had been tickled pink by the idea as it seemed Toby was a little terror in school too, and while the prospect of having to focus in school may not deter him initially Eli still vividly remembered her boot camp days...they'd find out how determined Toby was when she started putting him through his paces (both physical and mental - took more than just being strong to be a good ranger).

But, on the flip side of that particular coin, if he kept with it he'd be one heck of a well-trained adventurer. At the very least that ought to relieve a bit of Martha's worry about the kid if their combined efforts couldn't turn his attention away from a future career of adventuring.

She would also need to drop by the Civil Corps building and give Remington back his pocket knife - she hadn't been able to find him after the tag game so it was currently in her own pocket (and she'd made sure to clean the cheese off before closing it).

When she got inside she borrowed a thumb tack from Selene and stuck the picture to the top edge of the headboard of her bed, then changed into the loose pants and shirt she'd designated as sleep wear and crawled under the covers. Along with needing to talk to Martha and Toby, and return Remington's knife, she was also expected down in the facility to babysit the scholars...it was going to be a very busy day.


	11. Chapter 11

With Stewart's list of names and locations they were able to carefully separate out who they could confidently identify and those thirteen persons were given a plot in Portia's graveyard separate from the mass grave that was being dug outside of the city gates.

Sophie had loaned them a wagon and McDonald loaned a large draft horse Eli had nicknamed Bruiser; when the big grave was dug and the headstone had been carved and placed (a joint effort between Gust, Selene, and Higgins) it then took eight trips to get all the skeletal remains out of the facility and into the ground.

Giving a eulogy wasn't something Eli had ever seen herself doing...honestly (and she had even discussed this exact topic with Darren) she'd assumed that the rest of her family would outlive her. Being a ranger carried a lot of risk and that risk had only grown as things had started breaking down across the nations. There were a lot of things she'd mentally filed in the "probably going to kill me" category and because of that she'd tried to approach everything with the same level of caution; it was a thought she carried with her everywhere - that her family and friends may eventually be planning her funeral, no matter how careful she was. And now, three hundred years in the future...here she was, planning THEIRS.

When it came to death, sudden or otherwise, the Three decreed that the deceased's story be shared where possible; funerals were long affairs with dozens of family members and friends chosen to speak on the dead's behalf. All of existence would remember that person whether there were people gathered to remember or not but it was a comforting measure to have everyone together "sharing the pages," as it was called: sharing their memories of that person's life story. She could do that for Darren, and for her squad mates...but everyone else were all people she didn't know, and she was the only one left alive who could speak for them. And even if she'd known each and every one of them it would take her months to do their stories justice. 

There was also the (depressing) fact that it hadn't just been those in the facility that had died here.

There was no way to tell how many had perished in the orbital attacks, and Portia was built upon the ruins of Dubei in general. If she was going to properly put the dead to rest she should speak not only of Darren and her squad and those in the facility but of all of Dubei's residents who had died too. And what of all the people outside of Dubei?

It was one thing to write about and remember someone you'd known and loved dearly but how could you remember a city and everyone in it? How did you properly eulogize an entire world? What details should be included to give even a glimpse of all those lives that had existed and now lay buried somewhere beneath their feet? Wasn't she sort of doing that already just by answering random questions? Every answer was a part of a story of the past even if she was just giving a quick response to something as simple as a question about breakfast foods. With everything gone wouldn't even the smallest detail be important to the whole picture?

It was confusing and painful and tiring. And she only had two days to figure it out and get it written.

One small silver lining at the moment was Stewart had taken over answering most of the scholars's questions; with power restored his central intercom system was back online and, so long as the audio equipment (usually in the ceilings of every room) was still functional, he was able to listen in and attend to them without needing to physically be in the room. That meant Eli, Selene, Merlin, and Petra were free to roam about and do minor repairs as well as hunt down the closets and rooms that Stewart's logs showed should still have things in it. Depending on what they found Eli was determined to try and cobble together a couple of things (even a self-contained Hi-Def would be welcome) but also they needed to know what they had to work with if they were going to have any chance of moving Stewart out of here. If she could find a multi-screen, or even a teleportation module, and a couple of solar detectors and a battery mount...

It was a lot easier to get distracted by what she could potentially do compared to what she needed to do.

Whatever. She needed a break.

She had a little notebook (a gift from Selene) that she'd been carrying around for most of the day; her hope had been inspiration of some sort would strike and she'd know exactly which words to use and what order everything should go in...so far though there'd been nothing, and the notebook was still in the breast pocket of her jacket when she walked into the Round Table.

"Evening there, Eli." Django was at the front counter stacking up some dirty plates - whoever had eaten there was already gone, and the restaurant was mosty empty as well.

"Evening. Without meaning to sound weird, what do you have for alcohol these days?"

The man chuckled and moved the plates into a small bin that he then sat behind the counter. "Been that kind of day, huh?"

Eli nodded and settled on one of the bar stools. "Been that kind of...however long I've been awake, if I'm being honest."

"I don't think anyone will blame you for that. Let's see... We have some Duvos Winter Punch. It's fairly weak in both alcohol and taste - I'm not the biggest fan of it but there's a fair few here in town that love it. I've got some plain vodka I can add to some juice or the bitter melon mix, and a couple bottles left of the Barnarock Black beer - stuff's so thick you could chew it. Doesn't help you now but come spring I'll make a couple batches of snakeberry wine if you wanted me to save you a bottle. Portia's folks don't really drink much so it's not something I keep on hand in large quantities...usually goes bad before the entire bottle or jug gets finished."

Eli nodded - technically she wasn't much of a drinker either so she could understand the sentiment. "Fair enough. I'll give the Barnarock stuff a try. What kind of meaty dish would you suggest I get with it?"

Django rubbed his chin and didn't immediately answer. "...specifically meaty? I'd go with my braised meat bowl - all the flavors should pair up nicely, haha."

She smiled at that. "I shall trust the master. -- oh, and could I also get the bamboo and egg thing too? I think that's becoming a favorite."

"Can do," was his reply. He took the bin of dishes and disappeared into the back of the restaurant.

She watched him go; he'd mentioned before that there was a game room in the back, and she assumed behind that was the kitchen area. Maybe a couple games of...whatever was there, would help lift her mood. Or provide another distraction, or maybe it'd be mindless enough she could play while also thinking on the other things - any of those options seemed acceptable.

She couldn't see Sonia anywhere but the pink-haired young man she usually saw her talking to was here; he was sitting with Albert and a bespectacled man she recognized from the Commerce Guild but hadn't actually met yet so she wasn't certain on his name. As she turned back around to the counter the doors opened and Arlo and Asher came in; both of them had spent the day down in the facility helping Merlin and Petra carry around tools as well as carrying out the rest of the medical texts and manuals while Eli had been helping Selene replace a faulty speaker. 

There was a clear questioning look on Asher's face and in response she jerked her head toward the stools to her right; the man immediately accepted the invitation and sat down, and after a moment to consider Arlo followed suit but sat on the stool to her left, sandwiching her between them.

"Evening, you two." Django had returned already and sat an amber-colored single serve bottle on the counter in front of her. "Your order'll be up in a few moments. What are you two having?"

"My usual," came Arlo's reply.

"No idea yet," was Asher's. The stool creaked under him as he reached to tug a battered menu toward himself.

Eli gingerly grabbed the bottle and looked it over; it was chill to the touch and already forming condensation, and the cap was thankfully a screw-top. It didn't take much to twist it open and she idly shuffled the bottle cap around between the fingers of her free hand as she took her first sip; it was a smooth taste - chocolatey, along with a faint nutty undertone. Beer wasn't her usual go-to alcoholic drink but this one wasn't all that bad.

Django waited until she'd swallowed. "So I hear you've made a deal with Martha and Toby."

She sat the bottle back on the counter, chuckling a bit. "Yeah, you could say that. The plan is to dissuade him from the adventuring life."

"I don't think that's the result you're going to get," Django laughed. "I'm told all he's done these last few days is talk about it."

Arlo glanced over to her curiously. "What deal?"

"I told him if he got top grades for two quarters - or however long half a school year is nowadays - that I'd teach him a few things. His mom is wanting to put an end to the adventuring fixation so I'll be making it as boring and difficult as possible."

Beside her Asher snorted; he didn't look up from the menu but was clearly listening in. "Think you could teach the rest of us a thing or two in the meantime?"

"...such as?"

Asher flipped the menu closed and put it back on the pile on the counter. "I'll have an order of the creamy noodles with bacon and a half order of the mapo tofu please." He then turned his attention to Eli. "Anything, really. I know I'm not the only one curious about what it was like back then, being a soldier."

"I think I'd be interested in that too," Arlo said into the pause that followed. "I'm always looking for better ways to train and become stronger."

Eli looked between the two of them; how was it going to look to Toby if she was teaching actual adventurers? Maybe she could shuffle his attention to the Civil Corps instead... "Uh. Well. Sure? I guess? Assuming you boys get top marks on your homework too."

She grinned at them, and all three men started laughing; after catching his breath Django then excused himself and headed off to take care of the orders. Eli took another sip of the beer before continuing. "-but in all seriousness, I can, yes. But you're not going to like it. I'm not sure I'm ready to torpedo any friendships yet."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Asher asked.

"The basic training for rank and file wasn't too terrible. The training for a ranger though...that'll probably have you cursing my name up, down, and sideways."

"I'm willing to risk it," Arlo replied. "And I doubt there's anything you can make me do that would ruin a friendship."

"Uh huh," Asher said, chuckling faintly. "His pride can take a stomping unlike anything you've seen."

Arlo's face flushed bright red and he let out a small huff; it was clear Asher hadn't meant anything malicious by it but whatever history he was alluding to had definitely stung.

"Right, well," Eli hurried on, trying to dispel the sudden awkward silence. "Before I can train anyone else I need to get myself back to normal. I'm getting there but it'll probably be a few months yet before I'm satisfied." She glanced over to Asher again. "How long are you out here?"

"At least another two months. Mali was wanting to rotate us out when the scholars were ready to head back to Atara for a break -- it's looking like you won't need all five of us for too much longer anyway so I'm not sure what she might be planning now. I know if I tell her I want to stay for the long haul she won't mind though."

"Is Mali your leader, then?"

"Not officially but she's well known in the guild and has a knack for picking the right people for the right job. And usually she's the one who runs the yearly entrance exams for prospective members."

Asher ever-so-slightly leaned forward to glance toward Arlo and Eli now had an inkling as to what the 'history' was. "So what you're saying is she can't make you stay or go, more or less."

"Pretty much. I'll only be paid out to the estimated end of the contract I agreed to, which ends in two months, but I could easily stay out here another four months beyond that if I wanted before I'd need to go back home to stock back up on pocket money." He paused as Django came back with Eli's order, giving the food an appraising eye. "...I probably should've ordered that. Anyway - I do kind of like it out here. And it'd be well worth the stay if I get to learn something new."

"I guarantee I will run you off in a week," Eli said, laughing a bit as she picked up her fork. "You have no idea what you're asking for."

She picked at her food and only really tucked in once the other two had theirs brought over; for one brief moment she could imagine she was in the mess hall elbow to elbow with her squad. It was a bittersweet thought and reminded her of what she still had to write; suddenly the beer and the food didn't taste so great.

Before her mood dipped too far though the door opened again and Adam came in; he was a short, wiry man with bushy, bright red eyebrows and a shaved head. She could track his gaze as he scanned the room briefly before marching up to them at the counter. "Oi, Arlo - question. Do you Corps folks patrol at night?"

"Not always. Why?"

"A'right, lemme rephrase: did you have any patrols scheduled for tonight?"

"What's up?" Asher asked, pushing himself back from the counter. 

"Greg's certain he saw someone at the far edge of the marsh looking 'is way. We need to know if it's one of your folks or not."

Arlo shook his head and then stood. "No, it's not one of ours. Where did he see this person?"

"Said out to the east. Cliffs."

Out to the east...from what she remembered of maps of the area there wasn't much out to the east and not really a way to get over to the far side of the lake unless you crossed the western bridge near the tree farm. "That's not a place someone could get to easily from this side. Has there been any sign of tracks passing through the sink hole area?"

Adam shook his head. "Neither hair nor hide. Only ones we've seen out there have come from us."

Arlo sighed, crossing his arms as his brow furrowed in thought. "If this person was seen on the cliffs they probably came from the north somewhere. Would explain why there's no new tracks."

"Whoever it was wasn't paying attention and got himself silhouetted against the moon. Greg wouldn't have spotted 'im otherwise."

Asher shoved a forkful of tofu into his mouth and then stood, digging for gols. "Hate to eat and run but this is something I ought to be helping with," he mumbled through the mouthful.

Django held up a hand. "No worries - I'll bag it up and have it waiting for you. Assuming you mean to come back."

"Yeah, that works," Asher replied. He strode toward the door and Adam spun to follow at his heels.

Arlo also dropped money on the counter. "Same for me - I'll be back soon."

Eli was already over halfway done with her food; the beer would go flat, but oh well. "I may as well head out with them. Tracking is one of my talents."

Django chuckled as she too paid and then headed out the door after the men; the moon wasn't completely full but it was bright enough in the cloudless sky that they didn't need any extra light to make it back to the sinkhole and camp. Greg was crouched near the edge of the tent, partially hidden in the shadows near one of its corner poles, and was looking out toward the east with a pair of binoculars.

"Seen 'em again?" Adam asked.

Greg lowered the binoculars but didn't turn toward them - from Eli's point of view he was hardly more than a puffy coat and fluffy woolen cap. "Not since I spotted them the first time. Whoever it was backed up and disappeared over the bluff's edge."

Asher looked around. "Where's Mali and Maddie?"

"Already headed out to have a look," was Greg's answer. He finally turned his face toward them; he had a big, brown, bushy beard that almost blended in with fur trimming around the collar of his jacket. "I've been keeping watch to make sure nothing jumps out at them."

With that he raised the binoculars again and trained them out toward the east. Eli paced away from the campfire to put it at her back, squinting out into the moonlit night; she could just barely make out moving figures ahead of her and assumed that had to be Mali and Maddie. Biting her lower lip she turned to the north to eye the cliffs; further east it became less rocky and more steep and sheer though the height of the bluffs remained about the same stretching from here to there.

"You guys got rope and pitons?" she asked, turning back around and shielding her eyes from the campfire's glow. "A couple of us can go up on this side and cross east on the top."

"We do, and even if we didn't Adam here is part squirrel," came Greg's response (though again he didn't turn to face them). "Second pair of eyes in the leather case in there - decide who's going up and leave one person here to keep look out for you."

"Arlo stays," Asher said immediately. "You were pretty good at spotting trouble coming, last I saw."

Arlo simply nodded - there wasn't an indication of embarrassment this time. "All right." 

He followed Adam into the Pigs's tent; while Asher waited Eli started heading toward the cliffs. There were sheets of ice and icicles dotting overhangs and rock faces; it looked like melted run off from above had re-frozen when the sun had gone down. With the thaw-melt-refreeze cycle of winter she imagined there'd be some unstable spots on their climb up the cliff.

Adam came out of the tent a few minutes later with a bag that rattled. Out of that bag came a hammer and pitons followed by two coils of rope, one of which he handed to Eli when he caught up to her; the three of them headed for the cliffs and began a slow climb up with Adam insisting he should go up first. Asher was correct in that the man seemed to be half squirrel as he climbed quickly and with far more confidence (or recklessness) than Eli would have had for a climb in a new area and mostly in the dark.

"You guys smell that down there?"

Eli glanced above her at Adam's shout; he was almost three fourths of the way up the cliff, with Eli on the ropes behind him and Asher keeping the ropes pulled almost taut on the ground below them. "Smell what?"

"Smoke. And it ain't wood smoke."

Her hands were going numb but she managed to pick up the pace and get up the cliff moments after Adam had crested the top; they both drove in pitons to tie the rope off to, and then helped rapidly haul Asher up behind them before they set off together across the top of the bluffs. There wasn't much up here; this strip of land looked like a desert and a forest had mingled together but the trees were short with barrel-like thick trunks and spindly limbs, and frozen scrub grass crunched under their feet as they walked.

Now that they were up here they could all smell smoke on the wind; it had an acrid undertone to it -- Adam was right in that it wasn't wood smoke but what it could be none of them could guess at.

"Going to be impossible to sneak up on anyone like this, unless we want to move at a glacier's pace," Asher grumbled quietly. "And even then we're just as likely to be spotted because it's not pitch dark."

"Hush up, I hear something popping," Adam interrupted him.

They all stopped and strained their ears; Eli thought she too heard the sounds of a crackling fire but she couldn't see any firelight from where they stood. After several moments of listening Asher gestured for them to stay put and began to creep ahead; despite how carefully he tried putting his feet he couldn't move silently on the frozen grass and his footsteps drowned out the sound of distant pops.

Eli gave their surroundings a closer look; they were on top of the cliffs and there were rocky hills and the squat trees all around. She couldn't pinpoint the crackling noises except for knowing they were coming from ahead of them somewhere; she caught Adam's eye and pointed to herself, then jerked her head toward the north: she was going to move up and try to find a higher perch to see from. He nodded at her and crouched with his attention moving between Asher and her.

Very carefully she made her way to the north, cautiously moving around the trees and the biggest patches of scrub grass. Still she didn't see any sign of a fire but the sound was starting to clue her in a bit -- it was still to the northeast somewhere but it sounded like it was more north than east. She went up another small hill and around a tall rocky outcrop; Adam was out of sight now, as was Asher. The further north she went the more the land sloped upward and then, finally, she caught the barest flicker of orange against...something. Rock, or maybe an especially wide tree trunk. Whatever it was reflecting off of didn't matter too much -- all that mattered was there was a fire ahead, further up another steep hill. And where there was fire would probably be a person.

She backtracked enough to signal to Adam, as Asher was too far away and had his back to her; when the man had joined her she wordlessly put a finger in front of his nose and then slowly moved it to point his gaze directly at where the fire was. From here it was much, much less noticeable but after a moment he gave her a sharp nod and began to pick his way over toward it. 

Those popping noises they'd heard before were picking up in volume; as they crept closer Eli could make out a stone overhang, or maybe it was the entrance to a cave. Next to it was another rocky outcrop that had a sheen of ice over it (which was what she'd seen the orange flickers on - that ice was reflecting the fire's light) and scattered all around was shattered rock and disturbed (but frozen) dirt as though there'd been a recent landslide here. Adam gestured to indicate he was going to circle up to the right side - the side with the reflective ice - and pointed in a way she assumed meant he wanted her to go left.

There wasn't any reason to say no to the "plan" so she did; on the top left of the overhang was a crater made by a mostly uprooted tree whose crown was now partially buried in what definitely had to have been a landslide. The overhang itself was a wide stone slab that had broken off from somewhere further north and tumbled down to come to a rest against another stone and this tree, and had formed a sheltered pocket that was rock, dirt, and dead wood on three sides -- inside this cozy little spot was the fire and possibly its creator.

But, she could see that Adam had already poked his head into the claustrophobic opening of the little nook. Since he wasn't yelling in alarm she assumed no one was home, and came around to join him.

Inside the recently made "cavern" was the remains of a campsite, and all of it was ablaze; she could sort of make out a firepit in front of it all, with a narrow path that wound around the pit and led to the back of the hole where an A-frame tent was pegged to the ground and also to the tree -- it was engulfed in flames and the fire was starting to spread to the tree. At the firepit's edge she could see melting tin cans - both empty as well as several full ones - along with shiny spots that looked like melted plastic, and blowing up into the roof of the sheltered hole were flaky fragments that suggested there'd been paper tossed in here too.

There wasn't, thankfully, any sign of a person IN the fire.

Eli straightened and looked around their immediate area. The ground was too hard for there to be actual footprints but she could see a trail of scuff marks and trampled grass that led off into the night.

"Someone beat it out of here in a hurry," Adam grunted.

"Which means they, without doubt, weren't supposed to be here. Innocent people don't run - and they definitely don't run FROM people if they were looking for help for a sudden fire, but I doubt this was accidental," she said after a moment. "And since we didn't hear anyone running off from here they must have set the fire and run off while we were climbing the cliff."

"They're not going to get far in the cold."

Eli nodded and pointed to the trail of trampled grass. "No, they're not. And I bet we can catch up if we start moving now."

At that Adam looked a little unsure. "Well...yeah, true. But what about the others? Don't know how many were actually up here, right?"

"In a bolt hole this small it was either one person or they liked each other a lot," Eli answered. "You can go back for Asher but I'm going to follow this trail and see where it goes."

"All right, fine - we'll catch up quick. Be careful."

He disappeared back down the hill and Eli turned her attention to the trail on the ground. It went almost straight to the east; following it was fairly simple - enough so that she was able to jog along and only need to periodically glance down to make sure she was still on track. There wasn't any way to be stealthy so she was more focused on being highly aware of her surroundings and found herself looking at each rock, shrub, and tree with suspicion. So long as the trail kept winding among them and didn't...stop...

There. The trail went around a tree - specifically around to its far side, whereas the others had zigzagged only enough to get around them and hadn't hugged them so closely.

Eli slowed to a lumbering jog; whoever was up ahead likely knew they were being followed - she needed to decide what to do about that. Either this was an ambush waiting to happen or whoever this was had thought they'd gotten far enough away that hiding was an option.

She decided on a direct approach. "Come on out," she called ahead. "I know you're there and we both know you're not going to have an easy night out in the elements without shelter."

All she got was a resounding silence as an answer; she came to a stop about ten feet from the tree. From where she stood she could tell that the trail didn't continue beyond this point -- SOMEONE was on the other side. She wasn't overly worried about trying to apprehend one person on her own, especially since she knew exactly where this person was (and besides, Adam and Asher were coming to back her up).

"Come on. Let's not make this harder than it needs to be."

There was a shuffling noise and then a flash of movement as the man came around the tree; she caught the briefest glimpse of something glinting in the moonlight and instinct took over -- she was moving before she'd fully registered what was in the man's leading hand and as he fully stepped around the trunk she was dashing forward to slam the palm of her hand into his chin. Something flew out of his hand and skittered across the rocky ground; her initial blow hadn't stunned him much and Eli ducked under a clumsily swung fist that came a lot quicker than she'd anticipated. The next fist she caught and deflected with an open palm and used the momentum to pirouette and bring her left leg around in a roundhouse kick that the man tried to dodge by twisting aside but without enough backward movement so the toe of her boot caught him in the elbow and it was accompanied with a popping noise and a shout of pain.

As he staggered back and held his arm close to his chest she set her feet and dropped into a combat stance. "For what it's worth, I didn't mean to do that," she said.

Something whistled passed her and a split second later she saw a rock ricocheting off the man's collarbone and dropping to the earth; he stumbled backward and tripped over a tree root then fell to the ground on his back. From either side of her came Asher and Adam hurrying forward to fall on the man before he got a chance to get his feet back under him.

"For what it's worth, I DID" she heard Asher grunt as the three men wrestled on the ground.

With only one good arm it didn't take long the subdue the man, and Asher hauled him up to his feet without much resistance; Adam was already grabbing for his wrists to tie his hands behind his back.

Eli held up a hand. "Wait, hang on - don't do that."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because if his hands are behind him it's going to be a massive pain in the ass to get him down the cliff."

Both men paused a moment, then Asher nodded in agreement and shook the man roughly. "Hear that? Any trouble and down the cliff you go - we can get to the bottom gently or we can see how high you bounce."

Still the man didn't respond aside from a pained and annoyed noise.

It the moonlight he seemed to be a thin man with a leather cap on that hid his hair. He wore a dark leather jacket and cargo pants tucked into heavy boots, and when he locked gazes with Eli she could make out the line of a strong jaw and a few missing teeth when he actually hissed at her like an animal.

"Right. Let's get this jerk back to town - you've got a jail cell, right?"

"I...assume so?" Eli answered, looking to Asher. "I'd hope so. No idea where it is though. Should also let Dr. Xu know we've got an injury."

"Eh, let him stew with it," Adam growled. Since the injured arm was on his side he grabbed the man by the waistband instead and moved in unison with Asher as they began to roughly march the man back the way they'd come; he resisted for the first ten feet or so then gave up and walked with them, his head down.

Eli went to follow them and then remembered that there had been a weapon or something that she'd knocked out of the man's hands. It took several minutes to find as it had slid under a nearby bush but soon she was looking over a revolver.

It only had a three-shot barrel, the caliber wasn't all that big, and the barrel had a plug of sand and rock wedged in its end from the fall - it was ugly and fairly inefficient compared to what she was used to but assuming she could get that rock loose (and that it wasn't a cheap gun that'd explode after only a few shots) she could probably make personal use of it. Did Selene know what a reloading bench was? If this revolver existed (it wasn't a design she knew had come from her time period) clearly guns were still around in some form or fashion. Maybe she could engineer a rifle with Selene's help... She went to put it in her breast pocket and the muzzle of the gun scraped along the notebook's outer cover.

Oh, right -- she'd forgotten that was in there. Since both gun and notebook wouldn't fit together in the pocket and the other pockets of her jacket weren't deep enough to securely hold the gun Eli unloaded it and stuck it in her right pocket with the three bullets going in her left and hoped neither of them would fall out on the climb back down.

\-------------------------------------------------------

The morning of the funerals came; it was bright and sunny but still bitterly cold. Arlo was more than ready for spring to come back but was thankful that the weather hadn't taken a nasty turn since today was pretty important.

Eli and Gale had worked out two ceremonies - one at the mass grave and one for the thirteen that had been buried in Portia's cemetery. He could only imagine how rough this day was going to be for Eli; Arlo had never had to bury anyone he personally knew -- both sets of grandparents had already passed on by the time he was born and both his parents were still alive but had relocated from Portia's countryside south to Tallsky for the milder weather. He didn't have a spouse to worry about either since he wasn't married -- he wasn't even sure what to call whatever it was he had with Nora. Were they dating? Were they still deciding that? He had a heart knot hidden in his room but hadn't felt especially driven to deliver it to her yet...he wasn't confident at all that she'd accept it.

Especially now, since the amount of time they'd been spending together had been decreasing since Eli had been found. At first it was out of necessity - he HAD to stand guard at the facility - but once Mali and the Pigs had arrived he hadn't needed to spend as much time out there like before, and had mostly moved back to his usual routine... Nora had been a bit unhappy at the disruption to his schedule in the beginning but even now with it back to normal she hadn't-

No. He didn't need to be worrying over this. Not today.

And besides, he'd be just as upset at Nora's funeral as he would at Sam's, or Remington's, or anyone else in Portia. He didn't need to be married or related to someone to mourn them.

He left his room and, since the cell was right there, checked on their prisoner; the man had still refused to speak beyond hissing and grunting at everyone but had accepted medical attention, food, and water. Currently the man was sitting on a stool facing the back corner of the holding cell and didn't react when Arlo asked how he was feeling today.

Mali had recognized him; he was a wanted criminal in Meidi -- for espionage and three murders. They all were pretty certain they knew who had hired and sent him out here but with his camp in ashes they couldn't pin down just how long he'd been camped out there, and he definitely wasn't offering any answers of his own and hadn't been carrying anything useful or especially incriminating on himself either. Gale had contacted Meidi's representatives in Atara and then had passed making transport arrangements on to Mali since she, Maddie, and Adam would be escorting the man back there to face punishment.

To all appearances it seemed Duvos was wasting no time in investigating the discovery of the facility.

Adam had volunteered to tend to their unexpected guest today so Arlo continued on and headed down to Portia's gates; benches, stools, and spare chairs had all been arranged on the road in a loose semi circle facing the large grave. Most of Portia's residents were already there but few were seated; they were standing in small clusters chatting away, and he didn't see Eli or Gale among them. 

Selene and Paulie were standing at the edge of the crowd, both studying something in a notebook Selene held in hand; he walked up and nodded to Paulie who in return clapped a friendly hand to his shoulder but didn't speak as Selene seemed to be on a roll explaining whatever she had sketched out.

"-and after that all we'd need is you to move it all in. Easy enough, right?"

"What're you two planning now?" Arlo asked when Selene paused to take a breath.

"Our builder here is trying to plan out the carpentry and furniture needs for an expansion to the clinic," Paulie answered. "She'll be handling the metalwork, and I'll be handling any woodwork."

"So Xu decided to expand after all?"

Selene nodded as she shut the notebook and tucked it under an arm. "Just this morning. At first he was worried about cost but Gale said Atara had pledged some funds to assist and of course Portia has a general fund for new construction and also a repair budget that Gale can shift money from. Now that he knows it's not coming entirely out of his pocket he's jumping at the chance to work alongside an All Source."

"And what about security measures?" Arlo asked, raising an eyebrow. They'd been worried about that even before they'd found their little Duvos visitor on the cliffs...

The builder huffed at him. "You really think I'd draw up potential building plans and not think about protecting what was inside? I need to double check space requirements with Eli and Stewart before I finalize anything but I've got more than a few ideas on how to keep people out of that building if they're not supposed to be there."

Before he could respond movement drew his attention and he watched as Eli and Gale walked up from the gates and to the edge of the grave, in front of all the chairs and benches. The chatter died down quickly and people moved to find a seat, or else moved out of the way and to the edges of the crowd so they could see without obstructing anyone else's view. Arlo opted to remain standing himself, as did Paulie and Selene; Gale cleared his throat and scanned the crowd. Arlo looked over the group again as well, and it occurred to him that he didn't see Nora or Lee.

He frowned and double checked and yes, neither of them were here. Were they running late? He wanted to give them the benefit of doubt but knowing Lee... The man wasn't typically vindictive or disrespectful, and he hadn't gone out of his way to harass or badmouth Eli that Arlo had noticed (and if Lee had then Eli hadn't mentioned it), but to avoid a funeral felt cruel and spiteful.

With a long sigh Arlo shook his head and returned his attention to Gale.

\----------------------------------------------------

Gale had offered a small explanation to the crowd - that she would be conducting the funeral according to her personal religious beliefs. That got her more than a couple curious looks and by the time Gale surrendered the metaphorical floor to her and seated himself with the others she finally settled on what to say here, and how to say it.

She took a deep breath and clasped her hands behind her back; it was old habit to stand at parade rest and it probably wasn't entirely appropriate for a funeral but it was comfortable and familiar and she needed that at the moment.

"Good morning, everyone," she began. "I know that, between my time period and this one, a lot of things were lost. People, history, technology...religion. My religion is called the Foundational Three - named such due to the three guiding forces of Fate, Balance, and Judgement. Fate ensures every person born has a story to tell and that when they pass the cosmos itself remembers them, Balance makes certain that that story isn't too simple or too difficult to bear, and Judgement renders assistance or punishment as needed because sometimes others decide to intervene in stories they haven't been invited to. I tell you this, before I say anything else, because I'd like you all to understand first why I choose to remember these people as I do, and also so there's no sadness when you contemplate lives lost, whether it's those that came before, those that you may have lost in recent memory, or those you know you'll lose naturally in the distant future."

She paused and glanced around to gauge the general feel of the crowd; everyone's attention was on her and she saw mostly intent faces and a few neutral ones that were hard to read.

"Portia, as you know, is built upon Dubei's ruins. And Dubei was my home. It was full of people - full of stories. Millions of them, in fact. I could try to tell those stories but I'd be talking until the heat death of the universe happened, but even then, that really wouldn't matter - it's not my voice that will persist to tell them. That's Fate's duty, and Fate carries out that duty by speaking through the simplest of things: a howling wind, a bubbling river, the rasp of grass fields in a breeze, the drip of water, a sudden spout of laughter, a few quiet tears, the pattern clouds trace across the sky, the endless march of the passing seasons, the light of the stars. In every aspect of existence there is a story and we hear it with conscious and unconscious ears. These stories are in the items left behind, the whispers of legend and folklore, the written word, the spoken traditions, the family gatherings, and of course...when your life is shared with another - your pages entwine with the story of someone else. There are countless ways Fate shares the lives of those before us with those that still remain, and in this way these people are never truly gone from us."

Again she paused, turning to regard the gigantic headstone. It was finely polished marble with a trapezoidal base that joined into a tear drop-esque shape on top. The names were evenly arranged in two columns that then became three that then ended in four, from top to bottom of the tear drop to the trapezoid, and had mirrored images of a flowering tree in bloom curving up either side; Gust had designed it and Eli appreciated its simple elegance.

"None of us knew these people," she went on. "I lived during the same time period and I never met any of them. But I know that, should I choose to listen to the world around me, I will hear their stories echoing. And not just theirs but those of the people that came before them, and then those people that came before that, and then those before that. Fate is the Great Curator, and none of our stories will be lost to time whether we gather to share them or not. Today, I lack the pages to share the specifics with you for these people...but, give it time, and Fate will take care of that for me. Ours are stories that go on forever even if the people can't."

With that she went silent and stood there for a moment; finally she dipped her head and walked away from the front of the crowd and once she'd reached the road those gathered there erupted into dozens of murmured conversations. 

"This concludes this remembrance ceremony" she heard Gale announce behind her. "If you all would like to take a moment to warm up some there's coffee and hot chocolate available, for free, at the Round Table. The second ceremony will be in one hour's time in Portia's cemetery."

It took several minutes but at last the crowd began to disperse; Eli stayed where she was at the edge of the sitting area and was surprised when the group seemed to be...queuing up to talk to her. There were a lot of faces she knew, some she only knew by name but hadn't really talked to before today (and she also met the rest of the septuplets finally with them joking about how they'd purposely lined up from oldest to youngest for her convenience). There were also a lot of compliments on her speech and there was a young woman who introduced herself as Alice who was curious about the Three specifically.

And so concluded the easy part. The next one was going to be a lot harder.

Most of the townsfolk moved off to share their coffees and chocolates; Selene, Paulie, Arlo, Remington, and five of the Hulu brothers (the only one she was confident she had the right name for was Dawa, because he was taller than his brothers) stayed behind to cart the benches and chairs up to the graveyard and carefully arrange them around and near the thirteen fresh graves.

"We still have some time," Selene said once they'd gotten everything in place. "Do we want to head down to the Round Table and get a drink?"

"You guys go ahead. I think I'll stay here," Eli replied after a moment.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

The builder woman didn't look convinced but headed off anyway; Paulie and Arlo followed along with her and shortly thereafter the Hulu brothers and Remington went together down the hill as well.

That left her alone with Darren, and her squad.

She edged around the chairs and benches and walked up to Darren's tombstone; Gust had designed all of these too and they all bore various designs of flowering trees, plants, and vines. She'd been shown the designs before the tombstones were made and he'd explained that, having heard that Dubei had had so much plantlife incorporated into its structures, he wanted to embrace that detail and combine it with sweeping shapes and gentle curves and create something memorable as well as beautiful. And looking over their shapes she could see a bit of Dubei in them - everything back then might have been sleek forms, polished metal, and shining glass but you couldn't go five feet without seeing an ornamental tree or flower bed or vines cascading down every building, and he'd perfectly captured that feeling of 'wild and free' combined with modern.

She trailed her fingers over the scalloped top of Darren's stone; it wasn't supposed to have been like this, and immediately following that thought came a pang of guilt -- how selfish of her, to be wishing the roles were reversed and that HE was the one dealing with the emotional turmoil while she rested peacefully under the soil.

That particular train of thought was disrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming up the hill behind her. As she turned her hand fell away from the tombstone and after a breath she stuck both hands into her pockets; Arlo, Selene, and Asher were walking up the hill with steaming mugs in hand, and she noted Arlo was carrying two of them.

As she was expecting that second mug was for her; from the smell it was a hot chocolate and there was a rapidly melting dollop of cream on top. "Thanks."

"Thought you could use it," was Arlo's reply. His mug looked untouched but he did take a sip after she'd accepted the other one from him. "We still have about a half hour."

Eli nodded and took a tentative sip of the hot chocolate; true to its name it was VERY hot but in that brief moment between her tongue registering flavor and then being torched by the scalding liquid it was a very rich taste and the cream was only semi-sweet - not like the stuff she was used to. She couldn't tell if it was Asher or Selene who had the coffee but it was very fragrant.

"Any confirmations from Mali yet?" Eli asked.

Asher shook his head. "Not yet. She's coordinating with Meidi still -- they've been having more, and worse, winter storms than usual lately and all the places she could land the plane are buried under almost a foot of ice and snow. When the word comes that they've cleared a spot for her to land she's going to have to drop everything and leave."

She took another careful sip from her mug (it didn't burn as badly this time but that also might be because the first one had killed all sensation in her tongue). Over their shoulders she could see a few people heading toward them; at their head and moving considerably faster than everyone else, was Toby.

Seeing the kid reminded her of the agreement she'd made, and then of Asher's request. Considering they'd caught one spy...

"Have you mentioned to anyone else yet that you want to learn some ranger techniques?" she asked, looking between Arlo and Asher.

"Not yet but I bet Sam and Remington would like to join in," Arlo answered.

"I did but the others aren't sure they could rearrange their schedules yet," Asher said. He gestured in the general direction of the Civil Corps building. "I know Adam mentioned he'd like to make it happen. Both Greg and Maddie are married with kids -- uh, not to each other, but still, they can't just drop everything and stay here longer than planned."

"Understood. The reason I ask is, with the discovery of our friend up on the bluffs, I don't think it'd be wise to wait a couple months until I'm in top shape."

Asher looked to her curiously. "So you want to start early?"

She nodded. "VERY early. I was thinking tomorrow morning -- I can get back in shape while also dragging the rest of you up to my level."

Asher's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "Oh, uh. All right. Guess I should've opted for less sugar in this then..." He peered into his mug, nose wrinkling.

"Hi Eli!" came Toby's yell then; he rushed up beside them and bounced on the balls of his feet near her elbow.

"Hey kid. How'd the math test go?"

Toby scrunched up his face. "It - it was fine. I did ok. I don't like math."

"Not many do but it's pretty important to learn. Just do your best and ask for help where you need it. Nothing wrong with asking for help," Eli said, nodding down at him.

The scrunched up look relaxed into a happier one and Eli moved her mug to her opposite hand so the excitable boy wouldn't accidentally jostle it. Moving up the hill behind the kid was a larger group than Eli had initially thought - from where she stood her view was partially blocked - and she steeled herself for the next part. It would be a longer ceremony, and more difficult to get through.

It was easy to say there shouldn't be any sadness in remembering the lost. It was an entirely different thing to try and cling to.


	12. Chapter 12

Spring was here; it was still cold but now it was a lot wetter. He missed the snow in a way, since it was essentially a readily available cold pack for sore muscles.

And oh boy, were Arlo's muscles sore.

Eli had started them out easy; a couple weeks of basic work outs with her slowly introducing new techniques and exercises each Monday with the weekend set aside for rest and recuperation. But by the second month of spring she'd started ramping things up: harder, more grueling exercises, longer sessions, diet requirements. He could tell he was starting to put on muscle mass already but all the work left him so stiff and sore that he often got back to his room in the evenings, climbed into bed, and didn't move again until morning came.

He couldn't go straight home tonight though; his day had started bright and early with the group exercises, then he'd spent another afternoon down in the facility, and tonight he was supposed to meet Nora at the Round Table for dinner. It was the first arranged meeting they'd had in...awhile. No amount of sore muscles would have him missing this.

\-------------------------------

The Barnarock Black was her Thursday evening drink of choice, and being as it was both a Thursday as well as right on heels of a several-hours-long social meet-up with Carol and Antoine, Eli was ready for a drink.

And food. Being as she hadn't expected the meeting to last as long as it had she'd skipped lunch, and while there were snacks and tea she had to really restrain herself from eating a ton of junk food while trying her best to ignore the rumblings in her stomach. Thankfully the chatter never really let up so she didn't think anyone had heard her gut screeching for sustenance but once they'd all parted ways she'd all but run down the street toward the Round Table.

On her way through the door she was almost knocked over by Nora leaving; the girl had thrown the door wide open and slammed it (accidentally) into Eli's hand as she'd been reaching for the handle to open it herself. As Nora shuffled by with a half-apology and all but ran toward the hill leading toward the church Eli stood there both wondering what the heck had prompted her to rush out of there while also trying to awkwardly pinch shut the fresh cut over her middle knuckle before it started to really bleed.

Inside the Round Table she could see Asher at the long side of the counter, Dawa and Dana at the far end of the counter taking up the pair of stools there, Mars and his daughters in a back booth, and Gale and his family were sitting at the round table in the middle of the room. Sonia was busy buzzing back and forth between tables and the back of the restaurant and Django was nowhere to be seen but based on the number of people in here he was probably up to his ears in food orders. 

"Evening," Asher greeted her as she took a seat next to him. He tilted his head and got a look at her hand. "Need something for that?"

"Nah. It's just a scrape. Did Django not have her favorite pie or something?"

"Who?"

"Nora, isn't it? With the church?"

"Oh, yeah - that was Nora. No idea. Didn't even know she was here until she left - I never seem to notice that side room there."

Eli knew what he was talking about; there was what looked like a newer addition on the front of the restaurant - it had a large bookcase stuffed full of books, a radio on a stand alone cabinet, and a single booth with a pair of loveseats (which wasn't so odd considering that instead of benches or chairs at the other booths there were plush couches that seated 3, maybe 4 if you piled in together). It was easy to let your attention slide right passed it since you couldn't really see it or see into it unless you crossed the room to the tables on the back wall.

It looked like just Arlo was sitting-

Ah. Ok then.

Eli inhaled through her teeth - an awkward hiss, of sorts - and sat down at the counter. It took awhile for Sonia to make it over and take her order; the cut on her knuckle kept oozing and she'd resorted to periodically swiping the blood off with a thumb and then sticking said thumb into her mouth.

"You SURE you don't want something to wrap that in?"

"All the napkins here are cloth. I'd rather not stain them with a bodily fluid."

Asher rolled his eyes and pulled a rumpled, dark green handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it. "And before you ask, no, I haven't blown my nose into it. It's clean but stained so don't worry about adding to it."

As he said the handkerchief WAS stained - looked like oil, and blood too - but she wrapped it around and tied it off. "Well, at least I won't drip anywhere. Thanks. I hate how much hands bleed before clotting up."

"I agree - knees and shins too. And no problem. I've actually never, ever needed to blow my nose in one of those - my dad made me carry one around for that purpose and I always end up using it for something else. It's a pretty gross concept, really...stuffing a crud-filled cloth back into my pocket. And I'm supposed to use it several times over a day?" Asher wrinkled his nose at that. "And I say that after having gutted fish and food animals...guts and blood? Totally fine. Snot? No thank you."

Eli chuckled; he had a point, after all. He also still had a noticeable bruise across his cheek from a cross-country jog last week where he'd taken a tree limb right to the face when an end piece had snapped off and slapped the rest of it directly back into him as he'd gone to push passed it. "We usually had bandages and tissue glue on hand for little things like this. I've even stuck industrial tape over cuts to hold it over until I got back to treat it properly. Drove Peter absolutely insane doing that. Was good times..."

"Peter?" Asher repeated.

She leaned forward and braced her elbows on the counter, putting her chin in her hands. "Yeah - he was one of our team medics. Him and Ashley, kept us pieced together and put all the blood and chunks back where they belonged."

Asher nodded slowly at that. "Not a bad idea - having a dedicated medical person. It's not something we typically do unless it's a big expedition. But, we all have some basic first aid training so it's not like we're heading out without anything at all."

"Do you have assigned squads in your Flying Pigs? I'm not even sure what an adventuring guild is."

"Not really," he answered. "We're a sort of grab bag group - we pick and choose who goes where, unless someone was specifically requested for a contract job. As for what we do we inspect old ruins for dangers and clear them out, protect those who need protecting, and we help map out areas that no one's been to in centuries. We've been a bit focused on that lately - eventually we'll make better strides out into the Peripheries and the Great Begeondan and get some settlements in place there too but, no lie, those are some of the most dangerous places on the continent. Full of monsters and rogue AIs, weird weather, extreme temperatures too."

"Sounds like my kind of place."

The look he gave her was somewhere between surprise and suspicion. "You're...joking, right?"

"Not in the slightest. Believe it or not there were a lot of wild, wide open places still left in the world back in my time period. A lot of our training happened out in harsh areas, and sometimes we'd get called in to go track down some idiot tourist or terrorist that had disappeared out there. Rangers had to be ready for just about anything, in any climate or location, for any reason."

Now he looked less like he thought she was joking and more just genuinely surprised. "So - I mean. It just seems weird to me that what survived through the ages were stories of humans living lazy, luxurious lives, with robots doing everything. And then you say there were wild spaces and hard training and having to be ready at the drop of a hat. Why was there any need for soldiers, or rangers? At least, human ones anyway."

Eli shrugged. "Each time I hear 'robots did everything' it surprises ME because it seems like no one actually gives thought to what that means beyond its surface. Would YOU want your life in the hands of something that's one hack or power failure away from shutting off entirely, losing all your files, or turning on you? Most people tended to act honorably and not target the innocent and whatnot but still, there were those who wanted their voices heard or wanted power and control no matter how many people they incidentally or purposely killed. In hindsight the fact that the leaders of the world worked so hard to keep the nasty, dark, and terrible things out of the public eye seems to have...really slapped the rose colored glasses on, to the detriment of accurate historical record. Granted, "accurate records" were a bit of joke anyway - at least to those who knew what was being to told to military and what was sent out to civilians. Oh, a hospital got hacked? A train engine exploded for no reason? Power shut off mysteriously? Nah, nothing serious - just "equipment failures" causing weird quirks and shutdowns," Eli said, raising her hands to stick air quotes around 'equipment failures' and all but oozing sarcasm. "The world was...certainly something, compared to what it is now. But there's no such thing as a utopia. People are always going to be unhappy about something, or slip through the cracks of society and feel they have a justifiable reason to make their displeasure known in violent ways. There's a reason all the nations still had standing armies even though we'd had peace for centuries, before I was even a concept in Fate's outline. They kept us all busy with public works projects, organized war games - think big but friendly skirmishes with harmless paint-based or laser weapons with sensor suits - and, like I mentioned before, the occasional idiot tourist rescue, but it wasn't all sunshine and daisies unless you were a regular citizen."

Asher let out a soft noise - Eli thought it was 'geez' or something similar - and rubbed at his chin, going silent for a bit. Sonia brought out Eli's usual beer then disappeared just as quickly as she'd popped up; Eli had half the bottle downed before Asher spoke again.

"Bet you never thought you'd be correcting history books, huh?"

She sat the bottle down and did a half-assed imitation of jazz hands. "Ta da, I am full of surprises." That rapid shaking movement dislodged the handkerchief around her knuckles a bit so she untied and then re-tied it back into place, using her teeth this time to help tighten the knot a bit better.

Over the chatter and sounds of cutlery on plates Eli made out the sounds of plodding feet, and shifted on her stool just enough to see Arlo slouching his way toward the door; right as he reached it it opened and Remington was framed in the doorway briefly before he stepped aside.

"Oh, hey - how'd it--" Remington was cut off as Arlo slipped passed him and kept going without a word; the man stared after him a moment. "--go..." he finished his sentence with a frown, and a shake of his head. He came inside and up to the counter to take the empty stool on Eli's left. "Evening, guys."

"Evening. How's the knee?" Eli asked.

Remington slid his legs around and flexed his leg a bit. "Not as bad as I thought it'd be, by now. It hurts but no more than it does when the weather is bad."

"Good to hear. I wish flex-gel still existed...that stuff worked wonders."

"Well, we make do," Remington chuckled. "What's tomorrow looking like?"

"Starting with a warm up run, then I have a couple new things to show. They're...hard, so I won't keep you all too long at it, and you'll have the weekend to recover like normal."

"Something to look forward to, then," Remington replied. 

Sonia came back with Asher and Eli's orders, took Remington's, and disappeared again.

As she picked up her fork Eli offered the two men a small grin. "I probably should have warned you both to eat light tonight. It's going to be a rough morning."

\-----------------------------------------------------

"Before today...no idea...what a burpee was," Asher wheezed from where he was laying flat on his back on the grass. "Can't say I care for them....or the reverse ones..."

"A sentiment I can get behind," Sam groaned. She wasn't laying down but she was sitting a couple feet from Asher with her arms around her legs along with her head nearly between her knees. 

Remington was off to the side finishing up some additional push ups with a sack of sand on his back for weight; Eli had let him do a few burpees to see how his knee held up and had eventually decided not to risk blowing the joint out. While Sam and Asher did regular and reverse burpees with one-pound sacks of sand in each hand Remington had to do lunges, sit ups, and push ups with a five pound sack. 

For whatever reason though Arlo wasn't present. 

Earlier, before they'd started on their run, Eli had caught Remington and Sam sharing a knowing look, and when asked neither of them owned up to knowing why Arlo had skipped today. She'd decided not to press the issue and had gone about the morning as she'd planned; being as the burpees had wiped everyone out she was content to not do their cool down jog and was just settling on the top of the fence when she spied Arlo's figure coming toward them from Portia's gates. He was...slouching a bit, and looked a little tired. 

"Morning," she called when he was within not-quite-shouting distance.

"Morning. Sorry, didn't mean to miss today."

"No problem. I can do a repeat if you're still up for it."

From his spot still flat on the ground Asher raised a hand. "Run - run while you still can."

Eli snorted. "Well, yeah - running is part of the routine."

"Not what I meant," Asher chuckled. He rolled over and groaned as he got to his feet. "I've got to get back out to the facility...maybe lay down somewhere that isn't wet and muddy for a bit before I get dragged into the depths to watch some old folks fart around in piles of dust."

With a smile Eli slid off the fence. "Remind them to leave things where they found it and to not try turning anything on. Going to be hard enough as it is to unlock personal stations without them tripping the lock out mechanisms."

"They've been fairly good at keeping their hands to themselves now that they have Stewart to entertain them but I'll remind them. See you guys later."

With that Asher headed out of the fence gate and headed toward town; he was walking in a slow, wincing manner, and Eli made a mental note to go a bit easy on them on the next couple of work days. A few moments later and Arlo was standing at the fence - on the outer side - and after a pause he sighed.

"I have something I need to speak to you privately about, if you have time."

"Sure." She hopped off the fence and looked to Sam and Remington. "If you want to do your cool downs that's up to you but otherwise I'll see you guys Monday morning, or whenever I next run into you."

She left through the gate and walked alongside Arlo down the road heading toward the shoreline; by her estimate they were halfway to the harbor before he started speaking.

"I wanted your opinion on something because it technically involves you. But first I need to ask - have you noticed anyone treating you differently, or rudely, lately?"

Eli shook her head. "Not that I've noticed. There's still some people that I think I make nervous but they're also not anyone I speak to or see often." She paused and then let out a small huff of laughter. "I think I'm doing a pretty good job proving I'm harmless to people I see on a day to day basis."

Arlo nodded at that and his pace slowed just a bit. "Have you interacted with Nora or Lee much?"

"Ha, no. Nora runs away from me and I think Lee would walk straight through the side of a building to avoid walking on the same street as me. I do notice he gets a bit louder in his sermons in the plaza if he sees me nearby but he doesn't directly single me out."

"So, you don't think Lee has had too much influence on how others are treating you?"

Eli slowed to a stop; Arlo took a few more steps before stopping but he didn't turn around. "Not that I can tell. But I'm guessing he's got some sort of influence over YOU and I'm at the center of it, right?"

He sighed heavily, sounding annoyed. "Yes, unfortunately." For several moments he stood there silently, then finally turned around to look back at her. "Nora and I were sort of dating. I'm not really sure if we were officially a couple or not. There's...something there, but I don't know what. The thing is, she broke things off with me last night because of my association with you."

Eli raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't tell me she thinks you were cheating?"

"No, nothing like that," he answered quickly. "She's not happy that I'm openly associating with something the Church is so against."

"...the past," Eli sighed; Arlo nodded in response. "You know that's a bit ridiculous, right?"

"The Church has its views, and I have my own regarding technology from the old world. I agree that there's a lot of dangerous things left behind from your time period. But I also think that not all of it could possibly be bad. If it was ALL bad I feel like there wouldn't BE a past for us to be studying. I know Nora strongly believes we shouldn't be using things from the past but I also know she's changed her mind on a few things once she'd directly experienced it or learned about it. Knowing that, I feel like Lee is responsible for her...stance, I guess, regarding associating with you."

"So confront him about it."

"That's...something I'm considering," he replied after a pause. "But what I wanted to talk to you about was your own personal experience with Portia's townsfolk. Gale was pretty direct about wanting to hear about any sort of trouble that Lee is causing, in the context of it causing YOU trouble. But this doesn't directly affect you in any way, it just affects me. If it's not your life he's interfering with then I don't know if I should tell Gale and risk rocking the boat."

"I think you should," Eli said, crossing her arms and glancing over a shoulder toward the distant and yet somehow looming pinnacle that the Church sat on. "If she wanted to break things off it should be HER decision, not because some crusty evangelizer told her to. No preacher or employer or authority figure should be free to meddle to that degree in someone's personal life. Not to mention that he's just asking for Balance to beckon and Judgement to come reckon..."

Arlo looked briefly confused by that last bit; Eli just shrugged - she could always explain the phrase to him later if he was interested. "-look, even if it's not affecting me directly it's clear I'm being used as a sort of weapon here. I could care less if someone is cursing my name up, down, and sideways, but I really don't like the idea that I'm essentially being used as a political bludgeon. In fact, I think I'LL go talk to Nora and get the real story out of her."

"I'd rather she not know-"

"Do you really think she'd just expect you not to tell anyone?" Eli interrupted. "Or that no one would notice you two split and not have questions?"

"I... I guess not." He sighed heavily again and tilted his head back to stare up into the sky. "I just don't want to cause a rift between anyone."

"Let me see what I can find out and THEN we can decide if we want to rock this particular boat or not. Might be that IF Lee was behind this, and IF he thinks he got away with it, he might try it again with other people and then THAT might actually affect me directly. If anything it's worth it to try and stop that before the metaphorical rocking ends up capsizing instead."

Arlo nodded. "All right, I guess. I'm going to head back to the Corps building. Let me know what you found out."

"Will do."

They walked back to town in silence and at the base of the hill near the plaza Arlo kept going while Eli took a sharp left to head to the path that spiraled up to where the church sat on top of a ruins (and if it was the location she thought it was it had once been several floors of administrative offices, a number of clothing boutiques, and a ground floor restaurant). By the time she got to the top and was looking at the church's doors that familiar feeling of nostalgia had hit her...nostalgia felt like a strange emotion to be having but she supposed it was a step up from the usual soul-crushing gut punch she usually got when she let herself think about something she recognized.

"Knock knock, anyone home," she found herself muttering as she shouldered the door open and stepped into the quiet chapel. 

It was nice in here, at least - nothing opulent or over the top. Pews, carpet down the aisle, banners and a chandelier, stained glass windows and murals on the walls. There was a fountain near the back wall behind the pulpit (which was just a small podium with a book sitting open on it), and she thought she could see a piano back there too.

The only thing breaking up the silence was the gurgle of water and the rhythmic sounds of sweeping coming from somewhere to her left; Eli walked up the small ramp into the sanctuary proper and from that spot she spied Nora off in the corner with a broom in hand.

The girl looked up to her and Eli saw her tense up.

"Morning. If you've got a moment I'd like to speak with you," Eli said. Not much of a greeting but the girl already didn't like her so no amount of politeness was probably going to change much.

"I uh...I need to finish sweeping." The girl was gripping her broom like she thought Eli was going to attack her; Eli wondered what exactly Lee had been telling her.

"That's fine. I can wait."

It was clear Nora had been hoping Eli would just leave but instead she watched silently as Eli moved a bit further into the room and sat down on the back pew there. Eli kept looking forward, admiring what she could see of the murals on the nearby wall; eventually she heard the sweeping start up again and could track Nora by sound as the woman finished up in that corner and moved down to the entryway, then back up and across into the corner on the right. She heard the scrape of a metal dust pan and the clatter of what she guessed was the top of a trash can opening and closing, and then silence. Eli let the silence stretch on for a bit before turning around; Nora seemed like she was debating whether she should run out the door or not but froze when she noticed Eli looking at her.

"Good to go?"

"Go...where?"

"I figured we could just step outside so if your minister shows up he can't yell at me for being on church property."

Nora inhaled and exhaled slowly then nodded, and mutely headed out the door; Eli followed along as the girl headed off to the right, to a wooden platform that was similar to the other wooden platforms that made up sections of the path that led up here -- it lined up with the path, in fact, and made it look like whoever had built it had intended to keep going up and around into the sky. She had a slight twinge of discomfort from the fact the platform gave a clear view of the land around Portia which included quite a few destroyed buildings.

_Don't think about it._

"All right," she said then, blowing out a breath. "I'll get right to it: Arlo told me. And I want to know if that was YOUR decision or if Lee put you up to it. Because he's not sure and I'm not happy to be in the middle of this."

Nora winced slightly and rubbed at an arm, and at first didn't respond. Eli stuck her hand in her pockets and purposely looked to the left and down into the tree farm while trying to ignore the ruined observatory that she could still see out of the corner of her eye.

"We talked about it...and I agreed, so it was my decision," Nora finally said. "The relics of the past are dangerous, we shouldn't be embracing anything from that time period."

Eli turned her attention back to the girl. "Including me?"

"It's..."

"Look, I get it - you church folk aren't going to like that I exist. I'm a living reminder of how humanity almost wiped themselves out. I'm not asking you to like me. I am asking you if YOU made the decision to break things off with Arlo, on your own, for your own reasons, or if Lee convinced you to do it because in his mind it was the right thing to do because of Arlo's associating with me."

Nora's shoulders slumped a bit and again she was silent for a long period. "...I guess it's a bit of both. Lee's said that-"

"-let me stop you right there. Lee hasn't bothered talking to me, period. Whatever he's said I intend to do or teach is something he pulled directly out of his own ass." At that Nora's eyes widened a bit but Eli didn't know if it was due to the language or because of some possibility that she'd exposed Lee for lying. "Here's the thing. I know a lot about a lot of dangerous things everyone seems afraid of - AIs, weapons, computers, devices. Just because I know how something works, or worked, doesn't mean I can replicate it here. For every one thing I could maybe manage to write up a technical readout for there's fifty others that I can't. I know how to put a plasma pulse rifle together but I couldn't begin to tell you how to make one starting from a raw material base; I could describe step by step how to troubleshoot an anti-grav propulsion unit but hand me every single separate part, down to the nuts and bolts, and I'd have no clue how to assemble it. There's a lot of things that, if it already exists, I could probably get it working again but there's no way I could build it from the ground up because even if I knew everything about everything, the fact remains that your technological level just isn't where it needs to be to MAKE anything."

Nora simply stood and listened silently, and was staring at some indeterminate point on the horizon past the tree farm.

"...so," Eli said into the silence that followed. "Was it Lee, or was it your choice?"

Nora hung her head. "You already know the answer to that."

"I was hoping I was wrong. So, barring Lee's meddling, WOULD you have made that choice?"

To her surprise Nora lifted her head and answered immediately. "Yes. I think so, anyway. Just...not like I did, or when I did."

Eli nodded approvingly at the admission. "All right, we're getting somewhere then. What's the ACTUAL reasoning then?"

"I just... I don't know. I'm attracted to him - he's brave, and handsome, and kind. But I feel so... I love his stories, and love spending time with him, but there's so many times where once he runs out of stories it gets...it's like we run out of things to talk about. We don't have much in common it seems. I try to find things to talk about but its usually the same things each time - the weather, the news. I've even tried telling him about books I like but I feel silly trying to explain an entire book's plot. And..."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "And?" she prompted - she wasn't going to let her clam up now that the proverbial dam had apparently burst.

"-I was only supposed to stay in Portia for two years. I asked to stay longer and was granted an extension to my mission with the Church, and while I love Portia I can't stay here forever. I have schooling to finish in Atara and then I'd like to settle down and start a family, and Arlo wants to join the Flying Pigs and would be traveling all over. I don't think either of us can stay with the other unless someone wants to give up a dream."

"Aha..." Eli muttered. "That I can understand. Mine and my husband's jobs kept us apart quite a bit but neither of us would have ever asked the other one to give up their career."

"How...did it work out, then?"

Eli gave her a small smile. "We enjoyed every moment we got together, when we had the time. Truth be told, my marriage was arranged - I just got super lucky in that I actually fell in love with the person my parents picked." At Nora's shocked look she held up a hand. "I know, it sounds weird - arranged marriages weren't at all popular back then, and were even against the law in a lot of places. But all the men I was around were all soldiers or rangers, and I didn't want to marry another serviceman. My parents picked someone I knew in gradeschool so he wasn't a total stranger, and we ended up fitting together nicely."

"Phyllis ran away from an arranged marriage...I didn't think one could be successful."

"Don't get me wrong - I thought long and hard before I asked my parents to do that for me, AND asked them to make it clear to whoever needed to hear it that I wouldn't be putting my boots away if I got married. It's not something I would ever suggest to another person. But, to get back on track, I'm only mentioning my marriage and circumstance because it's entirely possible you and Arlo could make it work even if you're apart for long periods of time. It just boils down to, do you think that's what you'd want?"

Again Nora fell quiet, and Eli stayed where she was while the other walked over to the edge of the platform and leaned against it with her arms folded across the top plank of the fence. Standing there, in the quiet, Eli could hear footsteps coming up the path and assumed they were about to be interrupted - probably by Lee. She gave Nora a couple more minutes before clearing her throat to grab her attention.

"Give it some thought, and be honest with yourself. And when you have your answer, walk your happy little butt down to the Corps building and be honest with Arlo. You're still welcome to dislike me," Eli added after a moment, smiling slightly. "I hear someone coming though so I should probably make myself scarce."

"All right...I'll do that," Nora replied, voice quiet.

Eli nodded to her and then turned to plod back down the path. As she expected she passed Lee coming up; he gave her a brief sour look then turned his nose up to her and sped up to get by her faster. She managed to keep from rolling her eyes until she had her back to him and once she'd circled around enough to put him entirely out of sight she sped up into a trot -- may as well get her cool down jog done. She would check in with Arlo later this afternoon instead (it made more sense to give Nora time to go talk to him on her own, before Eli went to tell him what she'd said -- it'd also mean a lot more for him to hear it from Nora).

As she passed under Portia's gate she paused at the split in the road; ordinarily she'd jog down to the harbor and back with the others for their cool down run. If she hung a right here she'd go up to the tree farm and she could easily keep going and check in at the facility - today was supposed to be one of her free days to do...whatever she felt like, but she didn't have much in mind to do. Maybe she could get back to rummaging through the spare parts and start the onerous duty of stripping down and re-working the auxiliary power bank to see if they could convert it over to wind power.

Yeah, that would probably be a better use of her time today.

She paused to stretch and then continued on, jogging up the road; there was someone coming down the road toward her - someone she didn't recognize. She offered the man a smile and moved off the road into the grass, and the man returned the smile and offered a little wave as she went by.

As she got to the tree farm's gate it swung open and out came Dawa, and when he saw her he waved at her and gestured for her to pause.

"Hey, Eli!"

"Hello Dawa. You need something?"

"Was Selene home when you left?"

"Uh... I actually have no idea. I usually get up and out of the house before she does and I spent the morning out exercising with the Corps folks."

Dawa nodded and grunted. "Ah, all right. Was hoping to possibly save myself a trip down there. But no big deal - it's not like I'm walking across the continent," he chuckled.

"I'm just out for a jog, I could turn around and see if she's there and then send her your way."

Dawa considered that a moment, then nodded. "If you don't mind. I've got a lot of work I need to get done by tonight and any minute I can save is worth it."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Need a hand with anything?"

"Nah, it's just a lot of chopping and getting things delivered on time. I can manage it...I think."

"Fair enough. I'll go have a look and come back up this way if she's not there."

"Thanks Eli!" he called after her as she turned around and jogged back down the path.

She caught up to that same man from before on the way back; he'd stopped not too far from where she'd first passed him, and was sitting on a bit of broken stone off the side of the road watching her approach. With how he had his feet propped up she could see his brown leather boots were worn and had a few holes in them, and they matched his equally worn duster coat; the man himself also looked weathered and old.

"Hello again," she said as she came up.

"Hey," was the man's response.

When she got back to the house she did in fact find Selene working in her factory and let her know Dawa was looking for her. She got a sort of distracted, non-committal promise to go talk to him and then Eli left the builder to whatever it was she was piecing together and once again jogged up the path toward the tree farm.

The man was still sitting there; he'd taken his coat off and had it draped over the rock beside him. His clothes were baggy but were in considerably better condition than his coat and boots were.

"You stuck in a rut?" was the man's gravelly greeting as she jogged near him for a third time.

She laughed quietly. "Just playing messenger for a bit."

She heard him chuckling behind her as she kept going; it didn't take long to let Dawa know Selene would be along in a bit and then she continued on out to the facility. Down there it was easy to lose track of time and before she knew it it was early evening - far later than she'd actually intended to be down here...she REALLY needed to recreate a damn Hi-Def or, bare minimum, get a pocket watch or something.

At the very least the tourist man wasn't still sitting on his rock when she went by there again; she did spot him sitting at the nearest booth in the Round Table though, and offered him a nod when she thought he was looking her way. He didn't respond but that wasn't a big deal - at least no one could claim she wasn't friendly to strangers. 

"Eli!"

She paused, halfway to a stool at the counter, and turned when she heard Arlo. He looked to be in better spirits and was waving her over to the table where he, Remington, Asher, and Petra were sitting together.

As she headed over Arlo slid to the side to make room for her on the end of the couch next to him and Petra shifted around to the other side; in the few seconds it took to cross the room and sit down Sonia had come over to the table for her order. Remington, Petra, and Asher all had half-finished drinks in front of them.

"Did you find that sensor thing you were looking for?" Asher asked as she sat down.

"Nope," she answered. "Granted, I didn't spend too much time looking for it though. Started in on tearing down the aux unit and making a list of what needs replacing. We're going to need an amp converter for sure but I'm fairly confident we can manage to make it work."

"That's good news," Petra said. "We already have the wind generator blueprints and have several up near South Block that are working just fine. If you can give us an idea of the power output that's needed we can see if we need to alter those blueprints."

"I'm still working on that. The main hitch is deciding what numbers to use and how to get them - we won't be using the same amount of power that the facility did in its hey day but I also don't know of any other number to use just yet. I might have to ask Stewart to set aside a week and just run everything from lights to toasters down there to see what consumption level it can even hit, then add some zeroes to account for potential future increases and then see what I get."

Petra nodded. "That makes sense. I just hope the wind coming down from the bluffs would be enough."

"Well, if its not sufficient then my backup plan was water turbines instead. There's that waterfall that's not too far away...biggest hurdle then would be waterproofing all the equipment."

At that Petra rubbed at her chin. "Water turbines and waterproofing... It might work so long as we can avoid altering Portia's water quality."

"Shouldn't be any different from the motorized boats I see out in the harbor with the exception that there won't be any fuel runoff in the equation," Eli replied. "That ought to make it pretty clean."

Further discussion was interrupted as Sonia and Django brought out all of their orders together and they got to eating; when they finished Petra and Asher excused themselves, paid, and headed out. As Remington ordered a second lemonade Eli subtly leaned toward Arlo.

"Did she come find you?" It was barely above a whisper, and neither Sonia nor Remington seemed to have heard it.

Arlo nodded. "She did. We worked it out. Still friends." His voice was equally as quiet.

Eli straightened and flashed him a brief smile - she didn't need details; she was just glad Nora had followed through and Eli wouldn't have to have that conversation in her stead.

"So..." Arlo said then, voice loud and clear. "I hear I missed learning what a burpee is."

\--------------------------------------

The three of them ended up sitting and chatting for quite awhile, then moved on to the back room for a couple games of darts (Remington won every single game). As they'd stood and headed back Eli again nodded to the old man in the booth and this time got a half wave and smile in response. When they came out of the game room later the man was still there nursing a single coffee. He offered them a quiet good evening and was digging in his coat pocket for gols as they were filing out through the door.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" Arlo asked, as they stood together just beyond the edge of the extended patio roof outside of the Round Table.

"Sleeping, hopefully," Remington chuckled.

Eli shrugged. "Not really. I was thinking of seeing if Selene had a rod and reel I can borrow. I'm determined to see a live frog fish for myself - it's still so hard to wrap my head around the idea of bizarre animal hybrids."

"You should talk to Qiwa - I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you all about the native fish in this region," Remington said. "He's the one who usually wears purple, if that helps."

She considered that a moment, then nodded; on her To Do list was checking with the local school to see if they had books they could lend her on wildlife, geography, and cultures of the current time period but she kept forgetting about it until it was too late in the evening to catch anyone there. "Probably a good idea. I need to start making time to learn about the world as it is, instead of focusing on telling everyone on how it was." She paused for a breath then looked to Arlo. "If you'd like to make up for today I'll have time tomorrow."

"Sounds good. In the morning, as usual?"

"Works for me. See you tomorrow," she said, smiling and heading off.

The lights were still on in Selene's factory - had she ever gone to talk to Dawa? Eli hoped so. Inside the house it was quiet; Eli took a quick bath and tiptoed into her room wrapped in just a towel. Her pajamas were not on the edge of her bed though, which where she swore she'd left them this morning. Maybe she'd overshot the edge when she'd tossed them there? As she came around to the other side of the bed to check she saw a strange pink lump partially sticking out from under the bedskirt, and under it was a single pajama pantleg.

She reached out with one bare foot, grabbed the pantleg fabric with her toes, and pulled; sliding out from under the bed came the biggest, roundest, pinkest cat she'd ever seen. It was lounging on top of her pajamas and seemed not at all disturbed by the fact it had been dragged out of its little hiding spot.

"...excuse me, who are you and also I need those." Eli had to let the towel flap open as she bent down to roll the rather sausage-shaped cat off her clothing; when she had retrieved the pajamas she dropped the towel over the animal and heard a rather confused "mrrp" noise from under it.

Selene hadn't mentioned that she owned a cat, much less a neon pink one.

The world was a very weird place nowadays.


	13. Chapter 13

With the amount of blueprints, lists, material invoices, books, and samples sitting on his desk Xu felt just a bit buried and overwhelmed, but in a good way -- not only had Portia and Atara agreed to pledge funds for an expansion of the clinic but Walnut Groove, Tallsky, Lucien, Meidi, and Ethea had also decided to assist. What was going to be a single additional room had turned into two new floors with six rooms apiece to be added on to the side of the building along with a basement for Stewart's needed power and server storage. It was going to be an ambitious project and take a bit of time but inwardly he almost felt like he was vibrating with excitement.

And what timing too; his old master in Seesai had sent HIM a student. He hadn't seen his master in almost six years now but he could almost picture the old man jumping in excitement over the news of the facility and Stewart (his handwriting definitely portrayed his excitement well - Xu had only ever seen it this messy when he'd written about his granddaughter's wedding) and Xu himself was feeling quite flattered that his teacher had trusted him with the task of teaching.

Of course, Xu would be learning right alongside his student but that didn't matter too much; there was still a lot Xu could teach even if Stewart and the facility hadn't been found.

He was trying to clear off his desk when the clinic door opened and in walked Eli; he caught a glimpse of darkness behind her - it seemed their appointment time was here...he'd lost all track of time and now he was unprepared. Drat.

"Good evening, Eli. I'll just need a moment to clear off a corner."

Eli skimmed his desk and gave him a small smile. "Don't tell me you're changing careers to architect?"

Xu chuckled as he stacked some of the books up on the floor near his feet. "Not at all - I have some exciting news to share, actually." With the books mostly out of the way it was easy to stack up the rest and he managed to get half the desk cleared as she came over and settled on her usual stool; there was a small notebook with a blue cover in her hand - it was good to see she'd brought it today. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you. So what's all the clutter for?"

"Well!" he said as he dropped onto his own seat. "What I had intended to be just one additional room for the clinic has turned into a much bigger project -- Portia, Atara, Lucien, Walnut Groove, Tallsky, Meidi, AND Ethea have all pledged to send funds to turn it into a basement as well as two additional floors - to match the height of what's already here, of course. It seems Portia may become a center for medical knowledge here in the upcoming years!"

Eli's expression changed to one of surprise before shifting into a grin. "That's good news, doc. Didn't think you'd all move so quickly on those measurements I got you."

"I didn't either but once Gale had them in hand he immediately got on the telegraph to send out word. I imagine next we'll be figuring out arrangements for other doctors to come and study under Stewart -- and, speaking of that, my master in Seesai actually has already sent a student to me. He's at the Round Table getting dinner but I can't wait to introduce you two."

"Wow, lucky timing for this student."

"Isn't it?" Xu laughed. "I thought that myself. Oh, and uh - when you meet him, know that he and I already have laughed over -- well, you'll see. I don't want to spoil it."

She gave him a questioning look but he just smiled - it was such a funny happenstance, really.

"How long will it take to complete?" she asked instead.

"I'm not sure - that part is still being figured out, as well as which contracts are going to which builders."

Eli nodded, shifting so she could rest an ankle over her opposite knee; the notebook shifted along with the movement and was now balanced across her thigh. "Well, no rush. Stewart's server banks are UNDER his docking station, and that access door is sealed up tight. No clue how or when we're getting in there..."

"Can he not open the door?"

Eli huffed out a sigh. "Yes, and no. TECHNICALLY yes, he could. But apparently not only is that the floor where his server banks are but that area down there was connected to the secret project his programming is preventing him from telling us about. Because we aren't authorized to know about it he can't open the door for us, BUT, he did say he could turn a blind eye to any attempts to get inside due to enacting his Emergency Protocol programming. His logic, which is apparently good enough for his code, is if I survived all this time there might be more survivors down below, and he's not allowed to willfully allow someone to come to harm inside his facility. I'm...rather uncomfortable with even the remote chance that we'd find someone else down there but since Stewart isn't in any rush I think that's a good indicator that the chance, while not zero, is so small that we're not likely to find anything surprising lurking below."

Xu frowned as he searched across his desk for his clipboard and pen. "That sounds like a lot of needless extra effort and stress. I thought All Source AIs and living AIs were allowed some free will?"

"A human has free will but we all still tend to obey laws."

"Ah." That was a good point. He finally found his clipboard and pen, and then retrieved Eli's file from a desk drawer. "So...how have you been feeling lately?"

She leaned forward to hold out the notebook. "Mostly ok. It's still hard to see the buildings around here. I tried journaling like you suggested but I mostly ended up scribbling things. It's not as easy as it sounds to put thought to paper when you'd rather not be thinking at all."

Xu took the journal from her and thumbed through the first couple of pages - there were a couple of dated entries but as she'd said there were a lot of sketches in here; there were skyscrapers, some boats, something that was a cross between a plane and a truck, squat buildings, some mountainous areas... "These are nice. Were you an artist in school?"

"Not really. I can do buildings and landscapes but don't ask me to try drawing a person or animal. I struggle with plants a lot too."

Xu smiled and kept looking through. "I see a lot of precise things where scale matters, and not as many things where it doesn't. Would you say you enjoy neat and orderly aspects of life?"

"That's one way to put it, I guess."

Xu opened his mouth to continue but the clinic's door opened and in came Phyllis in a rush. She had a paper in her hand and she waved it at him as she hurried across the floor.

"It's done! I did it!"

"That's fantastic!" he replied, standing and almost being bowled over as Phyllis collided with him in a hug. "When will it be available for you to move in?"

"Two months from now," Phyllis answered. She pulled away and was grinning ear to ear.

"...congratulations?" came Eli's somewhat confused response. 

Laughing, Xu turned toward her. "Phyllis has been trying to get the owner of a building in South Block to sell for months now. It seems they finally accepted her recent offer so now she'll have a clinic of her own to run here soon."

"Oh - definitely congratulations then," Eli said, nodding to her. "You can never have too many doctors."

"I can't wait," Phyllis laughed - a sound somewhere between elated and relieved. 

Xu hadn't seen her so excited or happy in quite a while and it was infectious; he too was grinning as he sat back down. "After such exciting news in such a short period of time I hope we can focus properly."

"No worries, doctor," Eli chuckled. "Some days even just talking about the weather is a welcome interaction."

"Has there been any new troubles for you? You're still settling in well?"

"As well as I can be."

Phyllis folded up the paper and slid it into the pocket of her skirt and then, as she tended to do when she sat in on therapy sessions, quietly took a seat on a stool that was off to the side near one of the cabinets; the movement drew Xu's attention so when the clinic door opened yet again he didn't notice it until he saw Phyllis's head turn slightly to face that way.

Framed in the doorway, looking uncertain as to whether he should venture further inside, was his new student; the young man was named Harrison. His hair was a muddy brown that he kept clipped close to the skin and his eyes were a very dark shade of brown - they almost looked black. He stood at the same height as Xu but was just a tad bit thicker in the stomach area, and was wearing a short sleeved button up white shirt under an open black vest, black pants, and somewhat threadbare canvas shoes.

Xu gestured for him to come in. "Ah, there you are - Eli, I'd like you to meet Harrison."

The Dubei woman rotated around on the stool, looking Harrison up and down. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I was briefly told about you and have been looking forward to meeting you all day."

At Eli's confused look Xu began to laugh quietly. She looked between the two and he managed to swallow down the laughter. "See? I told you we'd already laughed over it."

"That's not an act? He just...sounds exactly like you?"

Harrison flushed bright red to his ears. "I don't think it's EXACT, and it's not an act. I personally think it's a bit embarrassing but neither of us can help what we sound like."

Eli scratched just above an ear, blowing out a short huff. "All right then... I guess so long as I can see who's talking it ought to be fine." After a pause she smiled. "Maybe just add your name after every sentence."

Xu chuckled and again gestured for Harrison to come in from the doorway. "We'll figure something out. I wonder if my master even noticed anything."

"I don't think he did," Harrison said. Finally the man came in to stand at the corner of the desk. "At least, he never mentioned it. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't...I don't know, senile or anything. He seemed as sharp as ever." He paused, then gave Eli an awkward smile. "Said me, Harrison, and not Dr. Xu."

They all laughed at that, and once he'd gotten his breath back Xu looked to Eli. "Before we begin I'd like to ask - do you mind if Harrison sits in on your sessions, Eli? It's completely up to you and whatever you find comfortable."

She considered that for a moment, then nodded. "He can stay. Might as well start him off right with a heaping dose of trauma. If he can handle me he should be able to handle anything."

Xu nodded and leaned back in his chair. "All right. At any point if you want privacy I'm sure neither Phyllis nor Harrison would mind leaving the room." He looked to the two to confirm and got a pair of nods; Harrison went to sit on the floor in front of the cabinet beside Phyllis (Xu made a note to go buy at least one more stool for the clinic in the morning). 

Then he looked back to Eli, and gave her a gentle nod. "When you're ready."

Eli was silent for a moment, then brushed the loose hair on top of her head to the left. "Well. Recently I've had an indirect problem with Lee."

\------------------------------------------------

"Looks like Old Bob is back in town."

It was early morning and Isaac was currently winning his fifth game of Cross Five; Eli looked up from the game board and spied a familiar looking duster coat-clad man wandering up the path. "His name is Bob?"

"He says it is," Isaac answered. He paused and placed his next piece before continuing. "A retired teacher from Vega 5, if he's to be believed. Got tired of where he was and began to wander around. He drifts into Portia every spring and autumn - harmless fellow but hard to talk to."

"What'd he teach?" As Eli watched him the man slowed to a stop, slipped a hand into a pocket of his coat, then turned around and hurried off in the direction he'd come from.

"He's never said. He mumbles a lot - has his better moments, some days more than others. Those days when he's lucid he could talk your ear off."

Eli nodded and placed her next piece - she'd managed to line up four pieces eighteen times in this one game but it seemed entirely too easy for Isaac to block her from a win. "I ran into - well, passed him - the other day. Seemed friendly enough."

Four turns later and Isaac had again maneuvered his pieces so that he had two open ways of winning and Eli could only block one of them. She huffed and reached out to start sweeping her black pieces off the board and into the appropriate leather pouch that held them. "Never was all that great at board games. If we were playing card games our roles would probably be reversed."

Isaac laughed. "Need to learn how to strategize better, young one. Not likely time to squeeze in another game before school starts but if you ever want to hear more of Portia's and the world's history feel free to come by for another game or two."

"I definitely will be - thank you, Isaac."

She handed him the leather pouch of game pieces and stood, moving in the direction of the schoolhouse.

So the man's name was Old Bob and he was also from Vega 5... Merlin hailed from there too and had urged her, several times, to go visit the city someday soon; it was certainly something she had put on her incredibly long To Do list, if only because Merlin had mentioned that a lot of living AIs were still functional out there. Portia's only living - er, living living - AI was Ack and the robot was in need of repair...it baffled her that he hadn't tried to travel to Vega 5 to seek replacement parts since all AIs had self preservation coded into them as a standard. He was missing an original leg, was dinged up, rusted in places and scratched all to hell, and he had chunks of his outer metal shell missing on the top and back of his head -- she could tell that at some point someone had tried building him a replacement leg but the servos whined on cold or rainy days, and it didn't look like there'd been any attempt to fix the holes in his head beyond him adopting a metal pot as a hat. If Vega 5 had a large population of living AIs Eli was pretty certain there was a good chance they could clean, repair, and polish up Ack if he'd just go.

Maybe she could take the robot with her when she went...if someone was going with him it might convince him the trip was needed. She'd bring it up if she ever seriously considered traveling; as it stood she could probably fix him up herself - it just wouldn't be all that pretty. At the very least she should try to get those holes in his head fixed...she could only imagine how much rust might be INSIDE him at this point with such a large area where moisture could get in.

Soon enough the schoolhouse was in front of her and her train of thought regarding robot repairs was carefully set aside for later; the door was unlocked and Eli was greeted with the sight of a thin, dark haired woman sitting at the desk inside the door. She seemed a bit surprised to see Eli but stood to greet her as she walked in.

"Good morning," Eli said. "I won't keep you long - I wanted to ask if you had any history or wildlife books you wouldn't mind letting me borrow."

The woman (Eli was pretty sure her name was Lucy - she'd only ever talked to the woman twice before) nodded to her, clasping her hands in front of her stomach and glancing toward what Eli assumed was the classroom. "We have a few I'm not currently using during our lessons but they're fairly...elementary. Simple, I mean. Meant for younger children. I can order more advanced ones from Vega 5 or Atara, if you don't mind waiting. We'll be needing them in the upcoming years anyway."

"I wouldn't say no to any book, simple or not. I'm not looking to cause any trouble or extra effort though."

Lucy shook her head. "No, it's no problem at all. There's a bookshelf just inside the door there, and it's certainly no extra trouble to order books ahead of time. It may take several weeks though."

"No worries - it's not like I'm going anywhere," Eli replied. 

Lucy smiled faintly at that and sat back down; Eli hurried in to the bookshelf and skimmed the titles, picking up two books - one was a history book, one was a children's "survival guide" style book with cartoony, colorful pictures of plants and animals. The information in it was written in very simple terms but it would serve as a decent starting point until she could get her hands on something more thorough. She gave Lucy a wave as she headed out the door with the books tucked under an arm; as she was heading up the street to return to Selene's she spied Adam jogging down the hill, and once he spotted her his path altered so he was running right at her.

"What's up?"

"We've got tracks," was the man's reply. "We didn't 'ear anything last night but there's footprints right outside the back of the tent - they go out to the east toward the river."

Eli frowned. "Great - another unwelcome visitor."

"Right. And with just me and Asher we can't split to go have a look. Arlo's waiting for you out at the camp. I'm going to find Sam and send her out too."

"I'll drop these off at home and head straight out," Eli said, waggling the books at him.

Adam nodded and quickly moved away, disappearing into town in search of Sam; Eli continued on but sped up to a jog and left the books sitting on her bedside table before heading out to the facility. As Adam had said Arlo was standing outside the tent with Asher and he waved at her as she came into view.

"What do we have, gentlemen?" she asked as she finally reached them.

Asher jerked his head toward the tent. "A tie came loose overnight - let in a pretty good draft. When I got up this morning and went to fix it I found some footprints. Can't exactly go traipsing off without some back up."

Eli nodded and headed around to the tent's backside; the tent was a big one and it was clear it was designed to be somewhat modular -- she could see where a middle section could be swapped out and the tent made shorter. The section was attached with heavy zippers on either end that had extra flaps of canvas that could be tied down over said zippers to keep the wind from blowing straight through.

And, as he'd said, there was a mess of footprints. The grass back here was a thick, tangled, fibrous mess - it was enough to keep the person from sinking too deeply into the mud beneath it (and thus avoid any noisy, wet, sucking sounds as they pulled their feet free) but while the grass had mostly sprung back from being trod on the grass blades were still visibly stained with mud, and it was plain to see how the tracks paced up and down the entire length of the back of the tent. Had someone tried getting inside?

"And neither of you heard anything?" she called out.

"Nope," came Asher's reply from the front. "Adam's sure he didn't hear a thing, and since he was out in front he didn't feel the draft. Heck, I didn't feel the draft until I woke up and was getting ready to cook and swap out with him. Came around and..." 

As he was talking he'd circled around and was standing at the western edge of the tent; rather than speak further he simply gestured at the tracks and Eli bent down to stick her hand next to a somewhat clear one to get a rough measurement -- the footprint was rather petite so that was likely another reason why this person hadn't sunk into the mud too much even if you took the grass cover into consideration.

"Right...I'll head out and see where these lead." She straightened and looked back to Asher; Arlo was standing with him now too. "You two going to stay put until Adam and Sam get here?"

"I'll come with you," Arlo replied. "Sam can catch up."

She nodded and started to trek to the east; there was an easily followed trail heading away from the tent that skirted along the bottom of the bluffs - someone had obviously been focusing on approaching in a way that would make them especially hard to spot, but luckily for her and Arlo their muddied tracks were still plain and clear in the daylight. 

"Isn't this where Mali and Maddie were checking the last time we had someone out here?" Eli asked.

"I believe so. They said they followed the land all the way out to the river - at that time there wasn't any sign that someone had climbed down."

"And when we found the man on the cliffs there wasn't any sign that there'd been a second person," she said after a pause. "If we're going to keep getting snoops from the north I might have to see if I can work up some trail cameras..."

"Some what?"

"Trail cameras. Recording devices you charge up, hide somewhere, and leave running to get candid pictures of wildlife, usually. They're triggered by motion only, to conserve battery life. Though I doubt I could manage anything that could transmit to a computer somewhere...will probably have to rig up a separate hard drive to store things on. BUT, point being, if we can get enough of those up in this area we could probably catch a glimpse of our little spies sneaking around up here. What's to the north?"

"Sandrock is to the immediate north. From what I've been hearing the town's fallen on some hard times and a lot of people have left to go seek their fortunes elsewhere so it's probably easy to go around the town without being seen. I'll see if Gale can send discrete word to the Mayor there and ask about any influxes of people going through the town that seem out of place. We've been seeing a lot of tourists lately because we've completed some roads over the last couple of years so we might not get any definitive answers though."

"It's a good enough place to start. What's further north than that?"

"Atara is to Sandrock's northwest, Lucien is to Atara's northwest, and Duvos is to Lucien's northwest. Highwind and Barnarock are to the northeast, and Ethea is almost directly north of Sandrock."

"And from what Isaac was telling me this morning about the Free Cities and historical politics I doubt we're getting spies from anywhere except Duvos," Eli said quietly. "Ask Gale if he can check in with Lucien and Atara, and...Highwind. Wait, no - Ethea. Or really, any place that's connected to any other place with established transportation. I hope it's not just Duvos that spies on everyone else?"

Arlo shrugged. "I've no idea. I'd certainly hope we've got eyes inside Duvos after our last war with them."

They trudged on in silence for a time; Eli was keeping a careful watch on the bluffs moreso than on the tracks they were trailing -- so far she'd not seen any sign of where a person may have been climbing around, and the cliffs were too tall for her to believe that someone could have just jumped from there (plus, even if they HAD jumped, they'd still need to get back up to wherever their camp may be).

There was no sign beyond the tracks until they finally walked all the way out to the waterfall.

"And there's where our visitor came from," Arlo growled.

The bluffs were still just as tall but there was a narrow shelf that was closer to the ground that extended out to the east and gradually widened right where the waterfall roared over the rocks. Pounded into the cliffside were iron...they looked like iron rods with a wide eye on the end, through which a rope was threaded. Hanging on either end of the line of rods were lengths of knotted rope to help someone scale up the rock face, and then the rope stretched across and under where the waterfall flowed to connect the two ends. The river that the waterfall fed into below them was a good fifty feet down; the steeply sloping rock that made up the sides of this ravine was surprisingly smooth and considering how much water was pouring into its narrow riverbed Eli suspected the current below would be dangerously strong. 

"Pretty risky...a tumble from here would probably drown you, assuming you didn't break your skull against the cliffs on the way down," Eli muttered, letting her gaze trace over the rope and then trail down into the river - from up here she couldn't see anything in the river but that didn't mean there weren't rocks waiting beneath the surface either. "Not to mention how uncomfortable it'd be to get soaking wet - it's still pretty chilly."

"It's a long walk to go around to a safer place to cross," Arlo said. "And there's a lot of places out that way where someone could hole up and hide."

She stepped back from the edge of the ravine and eyed the rope-and-rod crossing. "I could easily sabotage that without anyone able to tell until they were using it but I'd rather not murder our spy...I want to catch and have a little chat with them."

"Should we just cut it down and take the rods with us?"

Eli considered that for a moment; it would clue in the spy that someone had definitely found their crossing point but unless they were dealing with a champion of cluelessness there's no way that this person couldn't have known that they'd leave tracks behind. Taking it down now would force them to use another way or to rebuild this spot...but even then there was a lot of territory out here to keep an eye on and not enough eyes to go around.

"Let's leave it for now. I think our best course of action would be to get some trail cameras made -- I can get the cameras and drives out of the computers in the dorm area, and then I'm sure Selene could whip up a case to hold all the pieces."

"Did all computers have cameras in them?"

"Yep," Eli answered. She headed back the way they'd come and heard Arlo following along. "How else would you call someone?"

"Why would you need a camera to call someone?"

"So you could see who you're talking to. Pretty simple to fake someone's voice with the right tech - it's a bit harder to fake someone's face across a video call since those programs were easily detected. Not impossible, but harder."

Arlo was quiet for a few steps. "-and I guess it was nicer to see the person you were talking to as well."

"Yep."

They walked back to the Pig's camp in silence then; Adam and Sam were nowhere to be seen but Asher said they'd arrived and then left not too long after she and Arlo had headed off but that they had chosen to climb up the cliffs and check things out up there.

"Beginning to think we need some backup..." Asher mused after they'd filled him in on the iron rods and rope guard rail. "We always worried that there were still Duvos agents listening in to our telegraphs... Mali got jumped once because of that," he added, looking to Eli. "Word must've made it back to the empire pretty quick about this place. Got a couple people out here spying, noticed that Mali and the others left, and now they're getting bolder."

"With the locking car door it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Eli said after a pause. "There's no way they could break or cut their way in without being noticed. My concern would be just HOW bold they get if they think there's only one of you guys out there."

Asher nodded, rubbing a finger over the scar across his nose. "I already know what it feels like to be considered an easy target, believe me."

"Why would they be so interested to get into a medical facility though?" Arlo asked. "That's not the sort of tech they tend to try and seize."

"Maybe they don't believe it's a medical facility and need to figure it out themselves?" Asher offered, shrugging. "Or maybe they just want to junk it all for parts. I can't begin to imagine how those people think." He looked between the tent and the elevator car. "Mali said she'd come back once the prisoner was delivered, convicted, and she got Greg and Maddie home. If we can catch her before her trip back here we can ask for a couple more hands -- but also if we don't even just having her here too would be a help."

Eli eyed the tent, then nodded to herself. "I can move out here for a bit."

"What, really? You don't have to," Asher said after a pause. "Adam and I've got this for now, no problem."

Arlo sighed, crossing his arms. "Maybe you do but only for people trying to get inside - you can't split up to follow anyone. It might be best if Eli, and maybe myself as well, come out here to help until Mali gets back."

"You sure?" Asher asked again. "It's rough living - we don't mind it but you two-"

"Let's head into town, talk to Gale, and discuss what we'll need to bring back out with us," Eli interrupted, looking to Arlo. 

"Agreed. We'll be back in a bit," Arlo said with a nod to Asher. Asher sighed and threw up his hands in a sign of defeat and sat back down on a short stump of wood that was serving as a seat beside the firepit.

They had just reached the edge of the tree farm when Eli spied a figure moving toward them through the trees; she ducked around one and circled further to the west and spied Old Bob wandering toward them. The man had his head down and was tiptoeing through the grass - clearly trying to avoid the worst of the mud. She moved to join back up with Arlo, nodding her head toward the drifter.

"Kind of far out from town, aren't you?" she called toward him.

Bob's head jerked up and he stared around wildly until he finally caught sight of them; he visibly relaxed and offered them a half smile as they came within roughly fifteen feet of each other. "Yeah. Don't like towns after being cooped up in 'em. Seen the walls out there? Open sky. Like being closer to the stars."

"No stars out yet - you're a bit early," she replied.

"I know. Takes awhile to get there. Takes time. Taking my time, yeah?"

"Be on the lookout, Bob," Arlo said then. "We think a thief is hiding out in the marsh somewhere."

Bob flared his nostrils at them and came to a stomping halt. "Thieves. Bah. Nothing valuable on me. Bad business still."

"If you see anyone somewhere they shouldn't be let the Civil Corps know, all right?"

The man nodded his head vigorously. "Wouldn't know who belongs where but I'll try."

They kept walking; Eli turned around to walk backwards and watch Bob's meandering path as he headed toward the rear of the farm where she knew there were some ruins and a old stone wall that was mostly intact, if a bit segmented.

"Does that guy usually get the run of the town?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does he just go wherever and no one stops him?"

Arlo nodded. "More or less. Of course, he doesn't trespass somewhere he shouldn't go. He sticks to the public areas, or wanders around in the fields -- I see him fishing a lot and scavenging on the beach for shells but he never hangs around for very long. And he's never tried to steal anything or hurt anyone."

"And he's been doing this for years?"

Arlo nodded again; Eli turned around and walked facing forward once she'd lost sight of the man among the trees. Knowing they had another unwanted visitor had her suddenly suspicious of the old man but it didn't take a genius to see how the man's large booted feet were much bigger than the size of the prints up near the tent. Rather than dwell on it she tried making a mental list of things she wanted to tote out to the camp; clothing and food supplies were easy enough but she wondered if Selene would mind if she borrowed a toolbox to keep onsite out there -- usually the builder carried it back and forth but it didn't seem logical for the woman to only have one set of tools. 

"Meet you at the city hall," she said once they'd gotten down the road to Portia's gates. As Arlo headed up the hill toward the Civil Corps building Eli headed toward Selene's workshop; the lights were on and there was a steady plume of steam coming out of the exhaust pipe on the roof. 

Oh. Along with asking to borrow tools she should also mention she'd eventually need some steel cases for some cobbled together trail cameras.

The roar of machines going full steam greeted her as she pushed the door to the workshop open. Selene was up to her elbows in the guts of a...well, Eli had no idea what that particular machine was but it was disconnected from the rest of the system in here and was in five dozen pieces across the floor.

"You uh...need a hand?"

"Nope! Just have to take the whole dang thing apart to replace a single cog..." came the irritated answer. "Did you need something?"

"A couple somethings but it can wait."

"I'll just be a few minutes more...want to get this thing out before I stop."

"Sure."

Eli shut the door behind her and leaned against the door frame, watching and listening as Selene grunted and griped and finally twisted something loose with an "AHA!" that Eli could just barely hear over the noise of the rest of the machinery running. She fiddled around with a few more metal pieces then chucked the aforementioned cog carelessly over a shoulder; Eli watched it as it hit the ground and bounced off into a corner, chuckling to herself.

"Ok! What'd you need?" Selene asked as she extricated herself from the machine's inner bits. She had oil smears from fingertips to halfway up to her elbow, and Eli could spy a scrape that was thankfully above the oil line but was oozing a bit of blood.

"-you want a second to clean yourself off and get that taken care of?" Eli asked after a moment.

Selene glanced down at the cut - by her expression Eli guessed the woman hadn't even noticed it until it had been pointed out. "Hrm...stupid thing. I knew I shouldn't have tried to increase the belt efficiency at the cost of making that one part that much harder to reach. Oh well! What were you needing?"

There was a sink (Selene called it the "slop sink" ) in the corner next to the control panels for the machinery; it was partially walled off to prevent any chances of water splashing onto anything it shouldn't. Selene beelined for it and started scrubbing the oil and grime off with a soap that looked like sand and smelled like lemons.

"I was wondering if I could borrow some tools to keep on hand out at the facility. I'll be staying out there at the Pig's camp for a couple days and figured I'd keep myself busy putting together a couple of projects -- and said projects will also need some containers to fit into."

"Oooh." Selene's voice echoed oddly in the sink area. "What're you making?"

"They're called trail cameras. You basically have a camera, battery, and hard drive in a box hidden out in the wilds with a motion trigger. It'll record for a set amount of time then turn itself back off. Pretty sure I can put together a couple."

"Neat," Selene replied. A few minutes later and she turned around, hands bright red from scrubbing but with all traces of the oil gone. "Take your pick of what's on the shelves there and if there's something I know I'll be needing immediately I'll let you know."

Eli nodded and moved over to the nearly floor-to-ceiling shelves that took up the lion's share of the northern wall; she'd need some cutters, screwdrivers, maybe a hammer or rubber mallet, a couple wrenches... She began to pick out tools and then jumped a bit when Selene appeared at her elbow.

"Give me the dimensions you'll need and I can work up the outer casings, no problem," the builder said. The woman reached passed Eli to grab an especially heavy metal clamp before moving back over to sit it on top of the disassembled machine. "What's so important about trail cameras that you need to stay out there to make them?" she called over a shoulder.

"Just didn't want to have to walk back and forth a ton," Eli answered. It wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't the full truth; until she and Arlo talked to Gale she wasn't certain she should be sharing any details of new Duvos spies being found in the area. Once she had an armload of things she thought she'd need she carried it over to Selene to let her inspect it all.

"I...think we're good," Selene said after a moment to take inventory of everything Eli was holding. "I don't have any spare boxes to let you borrow but I've got some sturdy bags, if that's ok?"

"Works for me. I'll get you the plans for the camera cases once I've seen how it all needs to fit together."

"Sounds good. Let's go get the bags."

Selene led the way out of the workshop and toward the house with Eli following in her wake. That had been a lot quicker than she'd expected - she was probably going to beat Arlo to city hall at this rate.

\---------------------------------------------------

The plan was a simple one: Arlo and Eli would stay awake overnight, sitting at the back of the tent. The zipper had been undone but the upper ties left secured to hide that fact; it would take just one clean swipe with a sharp blade to sever the ties and allow them to come rushing out the back of the tent at any hint of someone snooping around. Asher and Adam continued their shifts as usual, and during the day Arlo and Eli were careful to remain out of sight as much as possible (which was easy considering most of the day they were sleeping anyhow). Tonight was the third night; it wasn't THE most boring vigil Arlo had ever taken but it was definitely dull to be sitting in the silence, in the dark, listening for anything out of the ordinary. 

Eli at least had something to do; she was sketching out (in PEN and the flickering light of the campfire, no less) some sort of diagram for a case for those trail cameras she'd been working on in those few hours of the day where being silent wasn't required. The crate of parts she had to work with was sitting at the foot of her cot -- under Stewart's guidance Selene, Petra, and Merlin had cordoned off a section of a dorm floor and had taken apart personal computers there along with some gadgets out of the ceilings and walls. Arlo had a passing interest in Old World tech but didn't know much about it; to him it seemed like an awful lot of parts for what Eli had said would be a "few" cameras. Watching her work was fascinating but it didn't take an Old World expert to see how she had at least twenty of some of those parts - twenty was not something he would refer to as "a few" and thus far she hadn't tossed anything out as unserviceable either.

Maybe it was just overkill for the sake of not having to go back down and take more things apart... Eli had stated she wanted to leave as much of that facility intact as possible in the hopes they could, in the future, utilize it as it had once been (sort of) -- he supposed the less they fiddled with things, the fewer chances something would break.

He moved his attention away from Eli and Old World musings and stretched his legs out; sitting still for hours at a time wasn't something he was used to (or especially liked) and with him and Eli keeping a low profile out here they'd postponed their usual morning training sessions. There was a small concern that whoever was spying would notice the sudden change if they'd been watching the city too but there wasn't much that could be done about it; he wished something could be done for how restless he felt.

Well...he shouldn't be dwelling on THAT particular part of it. A couple days - maybe a week - without a morning run wouldn't kill him. 

With a silent sigh Arlo leaned back and braced his hands against the floor behind him; the ground under the tent was lined with a thick, rubber-coated canvas and it squeaked quietly as he shifted and the flashlight in his back pocket rubbed against it. The tiny noise drew Eli's attention and he mouthed 'sorry' at her -- she nodded and went back to her sketching. 

As he'd already done dozens of times tonight he closed his eyes and went through a mental tally of the "normal" noises: the sound of Eli's sketching (barely noticeable), the pop of the campfire out in front, the slight creaking of rope as the wind caused the tent to shift from time to time, the whistle of that same wind across the opening in the top of the tent that would let the smoke of any fires filter out (Asher said during winter the campfire had been INSIDE the tent for better warmth but it wasn't needed now). There was the sound of the grass against Asher's boots whenever the man got up and paced around; if he turned his head slightly to the right Arlo could hear the soft sounds of Adam breathing as he slept.

Everything seemed both too quiet and also too loud. It was honestly starting to drive him a bit crazy.

But then there was a...noise. Hardly more than a whisper of something against something else. It was so quiet Arlo couldn't identify what had caused it but it was different enough against the backdrop of sounds he'd grown so accustomed to over these last few nights that it stuck out as clearly as someone clapping their hands to get his attention.

Arlo opened his eyes and looked to Eli; she had her head tilted back, eyes toward the roof of the tent. He turned his head a bare fraction of an inch to his left and closed his eyes again -- there it was again. Something rasping against something. Grass on...on something. He still couldn't tell what it was.

Again he opened his eyes and glanced over to Eli; she was moving, ever so slowly, to put her notepad and pen down. The only thing moving were her hands - her head was still angled toward the roof. In the campfire's dim light Arlo noted her eyes flicking over to him; when the notepad was safely deposited on the floor she used her hands to lift her backside off the floor and then gingerly turned herself over so that she was on her hands and the balls of her feet. Arlo imitated the movement - there was no squeaking from the flashlight he had in his pocket this time.

Eli silently raised a hand and pointed a finger at him, two fingers toward her eyes, and then those same fingers at the unzipped section of the tent.

With a careful gesture he indicated the knife that was sitting within reach of both of them; she nodded to him, then pointed to herself, then to the front entrance of the tent, and then made a circle motion with her hand.

He understood all that as she wanted him to take the knife and watch the gap in the tent, and she was going to...circle around from the outside, he assumed. 

Very, very carefully he stood and crossed the few feet between where he'd been sitting and the back "wall" of the tent; the rasping noise was slightly louder now and he felt it was coming from a point somewhere below his head -- that made sense, if this were footsteps he was hearing. He stopped a hair's breadth away from the canvas and waited, hardly daring to breathe but holding the knife at the ready; there was a tiny gap between the zippered ends of the canvas but it was so narrow he couldn't see a thing through it...but he was certain that if someone was out there and tried to mess with the ties again that he would see the fabric move and know that it was time to strike.

A very quick check showed that Eli was creeping out of the tent; he returned his attention to the zippered canvas and waited.

\------------------------------------------------

Asher had seen her out of the corner of his eye; he looked surprised for a moment, then immediately concerned but to his credit he didn't say a word nor did he get up from where he was sitting on the stump beside the fire.

Eli gestured to him - he needed to stand up (QUIETLY), and go around the tent on the western side. He seemed to get the gist of it, much like Arlo had, from her silent hand movements. That was good. If they circled around at the same speed, even if they were heard coming, they'd catch whoever was back there between them. She was really hoping it wasn't a wild animal.

Thankfully around the front of the tent the grass had been trampled beyond recovery; it was too wet and too broken to make any noise as she moved across the tent's front side but once she reached the eastern corner she knew she'd be making noise as she moved.

It couldn't be helped, but it could be mitigated if she moved slowly enough.

Even at a snail's pace it didn't take long to get to the back corner of the tent; she was still out of sight, and still hadn't seen or heard any indication that whatever was behind here knew she was there.

She took a deep breath, counted to three in her head, then jumped out around the corner.

And...what--

She could see through to the other end of the tent but there was a-

Oh hell. 

As Asher came around his corner there was a vaguely human-shaped area back here that was like trying to peer through a window smeared with petroleum jelly -- indistinct, blurry, almost impossible to see the outline of in the dark.

Eli rushed forward for the middle-most area of the blurry blob; whatever it was ducked her swung fist and for a brief instant disappeared against the backdrop of the landscape now that it wasn't directly between her and Asher. 

"What in the world-"

Eli ignored Asher and hurried forward with her arms outstretched toward where she THOUGHT the cloaked figure had moved; something struck her arm hard and knocked it away, and the blur moved closer to the tent in response. In the same instant the back segment of the tent flew open and Arlo stepped out and the blur struck out at him. It clipped his ear and shoulder and instinctively he swung the knife -- to Eli's surprise it connected solidly.

So solidly in fact that it was yanked out of Arlo's hand and now she could see the handle of the blade seemingly floating in midair in the midst of the smear-shaped person; he'd stabbed their spy in the shoulder - upper arm, at least, judging by the height. Eli aimed a flurry of punches in the general direction of the knife's handle and the blur retreated rapidly and right into Asher who got his arms around part of them but then immediately took what Eli assumed was the back of the person's head to his nose and his grip loosened enough that the figure slipped out. 

The handle went blurry for a moment and then was moving down and to the side - the cloaked figure had yanked it free and was now wielding it -- or, was, as almost as quickly as they'd pulled it free they launched it at Asher. Thankfully it hit him hilt-first but it was still a solid blow; Eli heard the sound of metal hitting what could only be teeth followed by Asher's grunt of pain, and the figure didn't pause before landing a solid (and nearly impossible to see coming) fist into Arlo's sternum.

As the figure then turned and rushed her Eli swung again; her knuckles grated against something plastic-feeling, ribbed and with tiny beading, and it was confirmation enough to determine that this person had somehow got their hands on an Active Camouflage Environmental Support Suit - or as they were sometimes called an "Access Suit." It was a jumpsuit covered in sensors, wires, and tiny projectors that could render someone more or less invisible to the naked eye and also contained a small generator that scrambled camera feeds to make them harder to spot there too. How the hell had one of these survived 300 years?

It clearly wasn't fully functioning since Eli could see the human-shaped blur but even then...just...how in the hell?

'It can't be an original. There's just no way,' was repeating over and over in her mind as she was bowled over by the figure. 

As she hit the ground and rolled she reached to the small of her back; Selene had fashioned her two holsters for that revolver she'd taken off the first spy. One was a thigh holster that she planned to wear when warmer weather hit, and the other went at the small of her back which allowed her to hide the gun under her jacket. She really, really didn't want to take a pot shot at this spy -- she didn't want to have to shoot anyone at all since this world lacked the medical equipment needed to assure a high survival rate.

The problem in this immediate moment though was if Duvos had the plans for those things and equipped their soldiers with them it would be disastrous for the rest of the continent, but if this spy was a one-off and she took care of this right here, right now...

She drew and aimed for what she thought was the center of mass and then fired off all three rounds in the gun. For a moment she swore she saw the blur stagger but then it was too far out into the darkness to be visible.

They were gone.

Behind her Arlo was checking on Asher, and there was the brief sound of pounding feet as Adam care tearing around the edge of the tent barefoot and without his coat on.

"What the 'ell happened?!"

"We had a visitor," Eli sighed. "It's not good news."

Arlo helped Asher stand up, steadying him as he swayed; Asher tilted his head forward -- blood was pouring out of his mouth and nose both. He fumbled for a handkerchief and once he'd gotten it half out of his pocket Arlo snagged it and held it to the man's face.

"What even was that?" Arlo asked. "It was like trying to see the wind."

"That was an Access Suit. And it's not a good thing if Duvos has their hands on one and figures out how to make them."

Asher moved his head to the side to spit around the handkerchief - there was something small and white in it. "Great. So now our spies are invisible."

"Not ENTIRELY invisible. Which is the only silver lining here -- if you can see the person in the Access Suit it means its not working correctly. We shouldn't be able to see ANYTHING but we could see enough to sort of tell where they were." She flipped the cylinder out on the revolver and collected the casings - they could be reused and ammo was about to become a commodity - then slotted in three more bullets and clicked it closed again before returning it to the holster at her back. "Which also means the trail cameras are going to be useless because those suits are designed to mess with cameras too."

Adam looked at her, confused. "Invisible suits? Screwing with cameras?"

"Wouldn't tampering with a camera alert someone to your being there, though?" Arlo asked. He was still holding Asher steady; the blonde finally lifted his head to look ahead at Eli and flashed Arlo a thumbs up as he took over holding the handkerchief to his face.

"It does, but you still can't physically see the person in the suit and looking through a camera feed just gives you a general idea of where they are."

"So, sort of what we just saw but weren't supposed to see," Asher said. His voice was muffled and distorted - like a small child holding their nose to speak funny. He also had a slight whistle to his speech now and Eli assumed he'd either broken a tooth or had it knocked out of him entirely. "Just something blurry without much of a shape."

"Shouldn't we be chasing this spy?" Adam interrupted then. "They're getting away!"

Eli shook her head. "No point to chasing something we can't see." She turned to Asher and Arlo. "Head into town and get yourselves looked at by Dr. Xu. I can hold the fort down with Adam - I can't guarantee the spy won't come back tonight though. We know about their little secret now but they're still pretty hard to spot."

"I don't think I need Xu," Asher replied. "Just a bloody nose and chipped tooth."

"Does the tooth hurt?"

"No more than my nose does."

Eli let out a long sigh, turning to look after where the spy had run. "Well. Even still - whether you chipped down to the nerves or not it'll probably have to come out."

There was a quiet groan from behind her. "Damn it...gonna have to go all the way to Seesai to get a fake one, too."

As she turned around she saw Adam rolling his eyes at Asher. "You can get 'em in Ethea you uppity bucket head."

"Yeah but they aren't as real looking as the teeth that woman in Seesai makes, and they discolor a lot quicker than hers too. I don't want a random yellow tooth front and center in my mouth."

"Boys," Eli interrupted, smiling a bit. "Worry about your vanity later and get cleaned up."

The three headed around the western side of the tent; she heard a faint "at least this time you had your pants on" from Asher (probably - hopefully - aimed at Adam). Before she left she went and picked up the dropped knife -- it was a 6-inch long blade that folded into a heavy metal handle that was inlaid with wood pieces. She stuck it into her waistband and glanced out toward the marsh.

That spy, if they were smart, would lay low for a few days - especially if they had a stab wound to tend to.

Actually.

"Hey guys - I'm going to go talk to Xu," she called out as she rounded the corner of the tent.

Inside Adam was helping Arlo clean Asher's face up; they had poured a bottle of water into a bowl and were alternating between a wet cloth and a drier one as they dabbed off blood and assessed the damage to Asher's lips, nose, and teeth. When she poked her head through the flap only Adam looked up to her.

"What for?"

"Arlo managed to stab the bastard. If Xu has anyone coming in with a stab wound on their upper extremities anywhere..."

Now the man gave her a grin. "Then that'd be our bastard."

"Exactly. I'll be back in a bit."

\---------------------------------------------

It was early morning; he wasn't used to being up this early yet - his master tended to spend the morning hours catching up on correspondences over a cup of hot tea so Harrison would get to sleep in until it was time for his lessons. Xu didn't respond to any letters that Harrison had seen yet, nor did he drink (or even like) tea, but he definitely shared the master's habit of getting up bright and early to get tasks done. It wasn't a habit Harrison had picked up from either of the two and it wasn't one he WANTED to pick up either but it didn't seem like he'd get a choice regarding it.

The last couple of days Xu had opened the clinic to let Harrison inside, then had let him mind the place for an hour or so while Xu went on a morning walk to pick fresh herbs; the next couple of hours afterward were spent learning the different ways of preparing the herbs into different remedies. Harrison's master (who was also Xu's master - so, their master?) had taught him a lot about teas, tinctures, salves, and other similar things but had mostly focused on the sorts of materials one would find in Seesai. Xu knew all about that and then some -- Portia had a surprising amount of wild-growing herbs all around the city and Harrison loved learning the name, the feel, and the smell of each new one.

Xu had seemed a bit distracted this morning when he'd let Harrison inside; there was a new pile of paperwork on the doctor's desk regarding the clinic expansion -- he hoped nothing had fallen through on those plans. Xu was so excited and so was he; the thought of studying medicine under a real living AI...it was more than he could have imagined.

A little bit scary too. Would the Church get mad at him? Surely they wouldn't begrudge knowledge that cured the sick and helped the injured.

His thoughts were interrupted when the clinic door opened; he actually jumped a bit at the sound -- who would be here this early? Xu had barely been gone ten minutes.

It was a slender, petite woman. She had damp black hair pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, big blue eyes, pale skin, and had a thick scarf on along with a jacket that she was only wearing on the right side of her with the left half of the jacket flapping free.

Her left lower arm was swaddled in a pale blue towel that had a slowly spreading bloodstain on it.

"Oh, dear - you're bleeding. Come in."

The woman nodded and scurried over to the desk; Harrison instead waved her over toward the hospital bed area where a rolling metal table sat then he quickly washed his hands before heading over himself. He carefully guided her arm over the table and began to peel the towel back.

"Good morning. I was on the beach and fell onto some driftwood and it uh...stuck."

Harrison gingerly pulled the towel free and winced when he revealed the stick of driftwood that had pierced cleanly through the outer edge of her arm. The ends had some scrape marks and had been clearly broken off on each end; it had probably been a much longer piece and she'd broken it down to size to get the towel around it. It was about as thick as his pinky finger and at first glance it looked to be just through the upper layers of fat and skin - it didn't seem deep enough to have knicked an artery or damaged muscle. "Can you move your fingers?"

She wiggled her fingers but it was clear it hurt to do so; he nodded and hurried over to a cabinet. 

"That's good - let me get a few things to numb that so I can remove the stick." 

"Ok. I'll be glad for some numbing - it hurts."

He came back with an armload of bottles and rolls of gauze, and the little leather-bound kit that held Xu's surgical tools. The woman was surprisingly calm as he set to injecting an anesthetic but a few moments later it was clear it was kicking in as she visibly relaxed; she wriggled a bit to let the jacket fall off her and into the floor.

Now he set to opening up the things he'd need and cutting a few lengths of gauze to have immediately at hand for when he got that branch free; with everything ready he paused to take a final, careful, close up look at what he was about to tackle.

As he'd already noticed the stick was about the width of his pinky; it seemed incredibly bad luck that the branch had penetrated rather than just snapped as it didn't seem all that strong. Without the ends of the stick he couldn't really tell which direction the stick had penetrated from - the best he could guess was it entered from the back of the arm and come out the top and the branch was a little lose inside its "hole" on the top of her arm - a bigger exit wound than entry. 

Very carefully he tested how easily it could move; to his surprise it seemed very willing to slide out of place and soon he had the little eight inch long piece of wood in hand.

"Wow, that was easy."

He offered the woman a reassuring smile. "It sure was - you're lucky. Now to clean it up."

The edges of what he thought was the entry point of the injury were pretty neat and had an obvious ring of dirt around it. The bleeding had mostly stopped, which was a good sign; he pulled out a tiny penlight from Xu's surgical kit and had a quick look around the inner part of the entry wound and didn't see any immediate debris that might be stuck in there -- no splinters or anything like that. When he checked the bigger top hole though he could see dark slivers of polished-looking wood.

Clicking off the penlight he swapped it for a pair of tweezers and began plucking the splinters free. Once he'd gotten all that he could see he sanitized the edges of the wound (though he couldn't quite get all the dirt off from the entry point - maybe that was the start of bruising instead) and flushed saline through the entire puncture to clean out any dirt or sand that he couldn't see.

"All right...now-"

At that moment the clinic door opened; Harrison paused mid-sentence and looked up to see Dr. Xu framed in the doorway with a bundle of something leafy and green in one hand. At the sight of them Xu let the plants drop to the floor and hurried over.

"What happened?"

"She says she fell," Harrison answered.

The woman looked between them with clear confusion on her face. "Am I hearing double?"

"No, sorry," Xu replied. "We just sound alike. Funny coincidence."

The doctor came over and, to Harrison's surprise, didn't immediately take over from him; in fact he seemed more interested in gauging what Harrison had done thus far.

"Well at least you're not twins," the woman laughed.

Harrison managed a smile at that but went on with finishing cleaning out the wound. "As I was about to say, I can't stitch this up because there's a risk that if there's anything in there that the saline didn't get out it'll cause an infection. What you'll need to do is keep this clean, change the bandages several times a day - especially if they get wet, sweaty, or dirty - and let whatever drains out of there drain out. If it starts bleeding again or gets infected come right back and we'll see what else needs to be done."

As he talked to looked over to Xu; the man was nodding approvingly at him, and Harrison felt a small surge of pride before he turned his attention back to the woman.

"Ok. Can I buy some things for pain and also some bandages?"

"Of course," Xu answered before Harrison could. He left Harrison to finish up with the injury and went over to begin gathering what the woman would need.

She looked between them again and then leaned in toward Harrison. "So are you two...related, or something?"

Harrison shook his head and began to slather on an antibiotic cream. "Nope. He's my teacher."

"Oh. Wild. Are you both from here?"

"I'm from Lucien," Harrison replied. "I'm not sure about the doctor."

The woman grinned at him. "I'm from Lucien too. Small world."

Harrison paused to smile at her, then began to wind the bandage around her arm. "Way smaller than it used to be, that's for sure."

Xu came over then with a cloth bag; the woman visibly winced when Xu put a hand on her right shoulder and he was quick to yank it back.

"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's ok. I think I uh, sprained my shoulder when I fell. I tried to catch myself but managed to flip myself over and really waggle this thing around when I did." She pointed at the length of wood taken out of her arm. "I probably made it a lot worse."

"It's really not that bad. I'm actually surprised." Harrison tied off the bandage and straightened, blowing out a sigh. "You got really lucky. It was a really clean wound."

"I guess so." The woman turned to Xu and eyed the bag. "How much is that."

"This should last you four or five days and it's 460 gols."

The woman held her good hand out for the bag then seemed to think better of it and began to dig in her pockets instead. "That's a lot less than I was expecting. I'll take it."

Harrison started cleaning up as Xu handled the money and final instructions for the wound care. When the woman had gone Xu then retrieved the bundle of herbs and came over to sit them on his desk.

"Quite a morning, it seems."

Harrison nodded as he swept the soiled gauze into the trash can and began to clean up blood spots. The section of driftwood was still on the table; he picked it up and turned it over in his hands, then found it easily snapped in two between his fingers. "What rotten luck to have fallen in just the right way to get this through your arm."

He threw it away on top of the gauze and went to wash his hands.


	14. Chapter 14

It'd been four days since their tussle with the spy; they hadn't heard or seen any hint of them, and so far the only injury that had turned up at Xu's clinic had been a woman who had fallen on a bit of wood. Asher had gone into town long enough to get his broken tooth pulled (front right tooth on the top...he looked like a doofus when he smiled now) and had immediately returned to camp to hunker down and wait out the spy's next visit while the Civil Corps members had gone on a manhunt across the marsh and into the neighboring desert area.

So far, nothing.

They'd briefly discussed the suits again; Eli couldn't make up her mind on whether this Access suit thing was an original (less worrying) or if Duvos had figured out how to piece one together (really worrying). Asher shared her worries -- the thought of Duvos mass producing those things for their soldiers, even if they weren't working like they did in Eli's time, would still pose a huge problem if the continent ever went to war again.

He did know she'd given up on the trail cameras for now but she was still working on something out in the tent; it used a lot of the same pieces that she'd set aside for the cameras but also several new, different ones that she'd sent Petra and Selene after. The centerpiece of these new additions was a detached screen that she'd marked out dimensions on - she was either cutting it down to size and needed the middle-most section or she was dividing it into a rectangle and eight smaller squares that were all roughly the same size. She hadn't done anything with the screen yet aside from measuring and marking out those squares but there were small piles of nigh identical looking chips, boards, and wires that were already assembled and sitting in a neat little line on the rubberized canvas under her cot that he assumed had to be put together first before the screens could be attached to them. 

It had been a fascinating sight to watch her work with such tiny components; he hadn't had a chance yet to ask her what those things were (interrupting her while she was working on them seemed like a poor idea since it looked so...fragile, in a way) but he was looking forward to seeing the finished product, learning what the gadgets were for, and why she needed so many of them. It also piqued his curiosity about Old World tech in general; so much of it seemed purposely designed to work with pretty much anything else. Maybe Old World technology didn't so much depend on the parts as it did the programs to run it...which in turn made him wonder, assuming they ever got to a point where they knew how to read and create new programs, if all the old relics could be made to work again like they did back then rather than being pieced together with spotty knowledge and prayers. 

Behind him Adam, Arlo, and Eli were all asleep inside the tent with the front flaps pulled closed to block out as much of the unusually plentiful sunlight as possible - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was considerably warmer today than it had been lately; he appreciated the warmth and imagined his sleeping companions probably did as well but found himself going back and forth on whether he was truly grateful for the "sunny" part of this sunny day. On the one hand, that suit made the spy near-invisible but not intangible so they should still cast a shadow so if the spy was dumb enough to try sneaking in close in broad daylight Asher was hopeful he would spot that before they got close enough to be a danger. On the other hand he doubted they would actually be that stupid. The constant prickle at the back of his neck - the feeling of being watched - wasn't a sensation Asher enjoyed, and it also wasn't something he was used to experiencing for such a prolonged period of time; he had no proof though that he WAS being watched, and that was probably bothering him more than the prickling was.

The grumpy sigh he huffed out whistled a bit as it exited through the gap his missing tooth had left behind; that annoyed him to no end too. Asher didn't consider himself an overly vain person but damn it he'd liked how he looked; it had taken a couple years to be at peace with the sunken in scar across his nose but at least that made him look...adventurous. Dashing. Daring. A missing tooth made him look like a drunkard, and it would be a long trip to Seesai to get a replacement that wouldn't prematurely discolor. Adam was right in that he could easily get a tooth closer to home but, again, discoloration was a problem -- whatever that woman in Seesai did to keep the false teeth from coloring was a closely guarded secret...no one knew what she did or what recipe she used, not even her family if they were to be believed.

He supposed it was a question of if he wanted to look stupid with his tooth gap or look stupid with a yellowed tooth in a few years. Neither thought was especially attractive and brought with it a sort of helpless frustration that, coupled with the prickling feeling of having eyes on him, made him want to get up and move around to burn off the pent up energy and emotion. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling grass; before he could truly react to the sound Eli came into view and he relaxed slightly.

"You're up - uh, early. Or however you want to consider it."

She shrugged as she sat down on one of the rocks ringing the firepit. "Eh, it happens. Sometimes you just don't sleep."

"Any new ideas?"

For a time she didn't respond; silently Asher surveyed their surroundings - everything still seemed to be as it ought to be. He still felt twitchy though...he was ready for action, or for anything that wasn't sitting here keeping watch. Maybe with Eli awake he could exercise or something.

"Not really," Eli finally responded. "I can think of twelve different ways to disable that suit but they all require tech that doesn't exist anymore. And it's not something I could put together from stuff that's left here."

Asher nodded, then glanced back toward the tent; when she'd come out she'd left the tent flaps open and he could barely detect movement inside -- Arlo shouldn't be up for awhile yet but it was looking like Adam was waking up. "So what's all that stuff you've been working on then?"

"Hi-Defs."

"I've no idea what those are."

"They're wrist-mounted computers. A lot of their functionality isn't going to work right in this day and age but back in mine they were onboard guidance systems with maps of all the regions, could make and receive calls, they kept track of addresses and your appointments and bank accounts and whatever else you wanted to track, they could project 3D images, take pictures... They could do a lot of things depending on the model you had."

He blinked at her; only half of that had sunk in as he'd gotten a bit hung up on the concept of a wrist-mounted computer. "Really? Why those then? If they're not going to work right, I mean. What will they even be able to do?"

"I want them mostly for communication and maps of this region. I'd need signal transmitters in some strategic areas but once I get it all tethered to the facility they should work. It's going to take a lot of footwork to get maps updated since it'll have to be manual scanning rather than satellite surveillance...or, hmm. Maybe some satellites survived." She paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Nah, shouldn't rely on that. Arlo mentioned there's a space station segment out in the wastes but even if there's enough left there to scavenge I doubt I could get a link going with anything that might be left up there, and even if I managed it I still wouldn't have a way to issue orders or anything like that." There was another pause and a sigh, and a wistful glance toward the sky before she returned her attention to him. "Mine will be the sort of central control for them all outside of whatever computer station I decide to run them off of. My aim is to give them to anyone involved with the security of this facility." 

"Huh." Him with a high tech device...not something he'd considered before. The idea was...kind of exciting, to be honest. "So maps and talking to one another. Is that all we can hope for?"

"Communication and map display is, bare minimum, what I'm aiming for, with maybe a basic calendar and clock function. I'll have a look at what I can immediately do once I've server-flashed Pauline and get at least one transmitter up for testing."

"...and you've lost me. What's a server-flash?"

She laughed quietly. "-right. It's hard to determine what terms survived the years and what didn't - with Petra and Merlin it's at least a 50% shot that I don't have to define something for them. So! Server-flashing. I take the main operational files for an AI and do a sort of...quick copy of their foundation. Pauline's an AI but not a living AI so I don't need to worry about her personality or anything, just the uh...the semi-intelligent framework she runs on."

"Yeah, going to need that taken down a few degrees still. Pauline seems just as smart as Stewart but she doesn't have personality?"

"Nope. She's just a regular assistant AI -- a sort of input-output response machine with just enough programmed intelligence to appear sentient but she can't learn or grow as a...uh...well, not as a "person" exactly but she -- she won't ever change. She just is what she is. AIs like her you could make infinite copies of and they'll never, ever stop being identical copies unless something on the outside alters them. Stewart on the other hand, if I were to make a copy of him, that copy would develop its own personality if given enough time to learn and live and the same would happen with a regular living AI."

That...sort of made sense. At least, it was simple enough that he could grasp it without her needing to explain it more in-depth. "And you're going to use her to run the Hi-Defs."

"After some minor reprogramming yes."

He nodded slowly; having a little, easily accessed map right on his wrist would be neat, even if it was just of Portia. And if it worked well here maybe it could be expanded out into the other cities and nations too...and, oh man, would that make mapping the Peripheries way easier too if all they had to do was walk through it with the Hi-Def recording or whatever it did to create the maps -- suddenly he could think of all sorts of possibilities and perks to having one of the things. "What would be the range on these things? How would they figure out and store maps?"

"Range depends on what kind of signal strength I can get. Hi-Defs have their own localized signals so they'll all be able to 'talk' to one another within a certain range, and also interface with the signals coming from the transmitters at a much wider range. I'm pretty sure I'd only need sixteen or so at some key points to cover all of Portia and a bit of the outlying areas. As for updating or creating maps it'll have to be manual scanning -- someone is going to have to start from an already mapped point and then let the Hi-Def scan the territory as you travel through it. It'll take awhile but the program that runs a Hi-Def is robust enough to piece it all together without too much extra work needed. And they have their own onboard storage to hold it all."

"Neat...and amazing." As a more comfortable silence fell Asher tossed a few thick branches onto the fire and nudged them into place with a blackened, straight branch he'd purposely kept as a sort of log poker. If Adam was stirring too then he should probably get the fire's heat evened out so he could start cooking. "Did you end up camping a lot as a ranger?"

"Yeah. I went camping for fun too."

He carefully poked at the fire for a moment. "...do you miss doing that?"

There was a long pause before she answered. "I miss a lot of things."

Asher winced a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

She shook her head and flashed him a strained smile. "Nah, don't be afraid to ask things. The funny thing with pain is the more you experience it, the easier it is to tolerate."

"I don't think it works that way with this kind of...you know."

With a shrug she turned to pick up the cooking kit (which was in a large leather satchel that had seen better days) that was off to the side of the firepit. "Works well enough for now. I don't want you guys walking on eggshells around me, and I can't hide from it forever. Hell, I can't hide from it even if I wanted to."

Asher was quiet as she handed the satchel over; he pulled the kettle out and stood to go fill it from the water barrel they'd installed just inside the tent flaps, then came back and sat it among the coals to start boiling. A feeling of guilt had settled like a rock in his stomach -- that had been such a stupid thing to ask her. "If you ever want to...talk, or something. I'll listen."

The smile she gave him this time was less strained. "I know. It's appreciated."

As he bent to re-arrange a few half-burned logs she got up and walked out of his immediate line of sight; behind him somewhere he heard Adam's low voice and then the man's plodding footsteps as he came over and took Eli's place on the rock. Asher just managed to catch the sight of Eli disappearing into the tent as he glanced back but she quickly came back into view a moment later.

"I'll be back in a bit - I need to grab a few things from town." She had her pack slung over a shoulder but it hung limp and empty. "Don't bother cooking for me."

"All right. If you're sure," Asher replied.

"I am." With that she began to jog toward the path that, eventually, led back into Portia.

Asher watched her go and then sighed heavily, looking over to Adam. "You ever feel like a massive idiot sometimes?"

"Sure," Adam grunted. "Then I remember I'm not you and feel better."

Asher rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to whack the man with the fire poker stick; when he didn't rise to the man's banter Adam gave him a strange look.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I think. How do you want your eggs this time?"

\------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Xu had acquired a wooden chair with a really comfortable cushion and a small wooden table for Harrison to work at; it sat in the corner near the front doors so it would be out of the way of everything else in the clinic but its position did mean that usually, when someone walked inside, Harrison was the first thing they saw. Already several tourists looking for headache or muscle ache cures had approached him at the table to ask after the medications, even when Dr. Xu was clearly within view at his desk further in the room.

He kept telling himself to find humor in the situation but it was starting to get a little annoying - especially after someone actually moved a stack of books out of the way to "speak to him" with Xu staring on in surprised confusion.

It was enough to have him dreading the sound of the doors opening, and so today when they slid open he actually flinched and carefully peered over the top of the book he had propped up in front of him.

To his surprise it was that girl from days ago - the one who had fallen on the driftwood and gotten it through her arm. She looked bright eyed and chipper, with no other obvious injuries, and he inwardly groaned as she looked around, spotted him, and came right over.

"Hey there!"

"Hello. How's the arm healing up?"

She smiled and slipped her coat off, then pulled her sleeve up to show the bandage there. "It's all fine and dandy - itchy, but doesn't seem infected or anything."

"Well, that's good." He went silent as she pulled her sleeve back down and got her coat back on, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "So...what did you need then?"

"Ah, hello there -- how is the arm?"

Harrison sat up a bit straighter as Xu came over; the girl gave the doctor a smile.

"It's all good. A bit itchy but seems to be healing."

Xu nodded. "Excellent to hear. Now, what brings you back to the clinic?"

The girl's smile faltered a bit and Harrison swore he saw a tinge of pink appear in her cheeks. "Ah...well, uh, I came to um. Talk to him, actually-" 

She pointed shyly to Harrison, and he blinked at her in confusion. Talk to him? Why?

Xu seemed just as confused as he was. "Oh?"

"Yeah...um, private matter."

"Huh?" Harrison blurted out.

She turned her attention back to him and rubbed at her injured arm awkwardly. "Um. If you have the time, anyway."

"S-sure, I guess." 

He stood up and came out from behind the table; the girl took a few timid steps toward the door and when he followed along she headed outside into a much brighter day than Harrison had been expecting.

He raised a hand to shield his eyes and looked over to her. "What did you need to talk to me about? Did I do something wrong with your injury?"

She shook her head, hard; it was hard enough to dislodge a few wisps of hair from the messy bun on top of her head. "No no nonono, nothing like that. I was just um, wondering if you'd...like to go get coffee or lunch sometime?"

With that the woman stood there, lightly scraping the toe of her shoe into the mud; Harrison felt like someone had abruptly switched off all the lights inside his brain. She wanted to go get coffee, with HIM?

"Uh..."

"It's ok if you don't want to," she went on in a rush. "I don't mind. You're probably busy. I shouldn't have asked."

"N-no, no, it's-" Harrison interrupted. "Ah - no one has ever asked that before. I think my brain shut off." He offered her a weak, slightly sheepish smile, and to his surprise she returned it. "But...why me?"

"I...dunno. You're from Lucien, like me. I don't meet a lot of Lucien natives when I travel around. And, you're. Um. You know...cute, so I thought, why not?"

Now it felt like his ears were on fire. "A-ah," was all he could say.

An awkward silence fell and it went on entirely too long for Harrison's liking; he was hoping she would say something...he wasn't sure WHAT, but he wanted to hear SOMETHING, anything, that would take the burden of this conversation off him until his brain caught up.

"So..."

"Ah, uh, yeah, um, sure," he said finally. "I-I mean, if you're sure."

The girl's face brightened and she bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment. "Hee! Yay! Ok, so when are you next free?"

"Later this evening?" he offered.

She nodded. "All right then - later this evening. Down at that restaurant in the square? The knight one?"

Harrison nodded, feeling lightheaded; he completely missed what she said as she waved and then headed off down the hill. Too late he returned the wave, and then leaned against the clinic doors behind him.

"What...just happened..." he muttered, rubbing at his forehead.

He, Harrison, had a date tonight. 

...wait, did she ever even give her name?

"Oh boy..."

\---------------------------------------------------

"Haven't seen you in a bit," Django said as Eli walked through the door.

With all the afterimages swimming around (it was REALLY bright outside today) Eli could barely see him, and somewhat stumbled her way toward the counter. "Been helping the Pigs out at the facility."

"Ah, that'd be it."

She managed to find a stool and sat down. "I had to come back for some supplies and I'd like to take some treats out to the them as a surprise."

Django nodded. "I see, hmm. I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, and I've got some Black Forest cake made just this morning. Won't take long to whip anything else up either," he said as he flipped open a menu to the dessert section and slid it over to her.

"Thanks." She picked it up and held it in front of her; with the afterimages it'd probably be another minute or two before she could clearly read it. "Do you know if they've established any favorites?"

"I know Arlo doesn't really like sweets in general. I haven't talked to Asher or Adam enough to know about those two."

Eli frowned; good thing she'd asked. "All right, no sweets for Arlo then. I know he likes spicy things at least. How about...an order of vanilla pudding, some of that apple pie, and that spicy spaghetti stuff?"

"Sounds good." 

As Django headed off toward the kitchen Eli folded the menu properly and returned it to the pile, then leaned forward to brace her elbows on the counter and put her forehead in her hands.

Every idea she'd had so far to disable that suit all required things that weren't around anymore; the easiest would be a localized EMP to overload the projector circuits and force it into a reboot cycle where it wouldn't be able to disguise its user until it fully restarted itself. A sliver shot would do similar in that it would disrupt the projectors by confusing its sensors with a quick burst of hard light mirror shards. Or she could use a taser overload, or a bolt drainer, or a sys-dis (a system disabler - it would scramble all the circuit signals), or even a battery overcharger. So many things she COULD do, if she was in her own time period...

But she wasn't, and simple ideas like trying to use water or some sort of paint or even dirt to try and short out or otherwise mark their target probably wouldn't work -- Access Suits had built in miniature shield generators evenly interspersed among the projector sensors that pulled double duty at repelling water as well as dirt, dust, or mud-like materials. She couldn't safely rely on the hope that those generators were as damaged as the faulty projectors; if they were working correctly they might get two seconds, tops, of visual assistance if they were to try and douse the spy in something...two seconds could seem like forever in a fight but since there was no telling what else that spy might be armed with by now Eli was not about to risk anyone around her with so many unknown variables (it was as much for the spy's safety as well as their own that they be able to clearly see what they were doing the next time they clashed - she'd hated firing blindly at the spy and it'd be a really simple matter for someone to accidentally kill someone else).

"Something the matter?"

Eli jumped at the sound of Django's voice just over her shoulder. "You walk really quietly when you want to."

Django chuckled as he moved back behind the counter; he had a few containers in hand that he neatly lined up on the counter in front of her. "Old habits I guess, haha. It'll be a few minutes on the spaghetti." 

She slid her pack off her back and pulled a cloth bag out of one of the front pockets, then sat it on the counter; before she could say anything Django picked it up and began to slide the containers inside. 

"It was an honest question though - something on your mind?"

Eli paused, then huffed out a sigh. "Just trying to figure out how to hunt down a ghost, is all."

Django's eyebrows raised a bit. "Wasn't aware we had a ghost problem outside of our haunted cave."

"Not a literal ghost," she replied, laughing quietly. "More like someone pretending to be one."

"I see. Not exactly your run of the mill problem to have."

With another sigh Eli rested her forehead on her hands again. "I'm not exactly a run of the mill person."

Django nodded slowly, rubbing at his chin. "...you know, how about we have a quick dart game while we wait on your spaghetti?"

There was something...odd, about his tone. Eli eyed him but couldn't detect anything other than his usual smiling demeanor -- he sounded off but looked fine.

"...all right," she answered, standing up and aside as he shuffled out from behind the counter and led the way toward the back game room.

There were a few others in the restaurant; Eli found herself waving at folks as she went and narrowly dodging Toby who was waving a report card at her (she made a mental note that there were only two more months for Toby to prove he'd kept his grades up enough for training) and then she was in the game room with Django already retrieving the darts from a drawer in the prize counter.

He didn't say anything at first as he handed her the three green darts while he kept the red ones. "So. Looking for a person pretending to be a ghost, you said?" Django lined up a dart and then tossed it a breath later; it landed right on the border between a bullseye and the next ring out.

Eli huffed then laughed quietly. "I feel like I'm about to lose. Terribly."

Django tossed another one and it landed squarely inside the bullseye. "I've had a lot of practice. Where's this ghost person lurking? Out at the facility?"

"...yeah," she answered after a pause. "We have an uninvited visitor out there."

The third dart he threw, to Eli's surprise, flew well off to the left and embedded itself into the thick safety backboard that the dartboard was mounted on. "When did this ghost show up?"

"Recently."

She watched silently as he went over and slowly took the darts down; when he was out of the way she took her first throw and it barely stayed within the board, embedding itself into a bottom right section that wasn't worth any points at all.

"Humor me. Was it someone you think is on the smaller, lighter side?"

"I...guess. Couldn't really get a good look at them, obviously." Rather than taking her second throw she turned around to face him; he'd moved over to lean against the prize counter's front, arms crossed over his chest and a somewhat brooding look on his face -- seeing something other than his usual cheerful expression immediately made her forget all about the dart game. "All right, spill: what are you getting at?"

Django inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Did Arlo tell you about that Rogue Knight we had, not too long ago?"

"Yeah, I've heard about it. He said you were the one who was able to drive them off too. You think this knight guy came back?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think your visitor is the same Rogue Knight I fought that day. But you mentioning a ghost brought back some memories, from when I was younger. Of a different, more dangerous knight, in her own way."

Eli walked over and dropped her remaining darts onto the counter. "Are knights just a common thing now?"

"Not anymore. In the older days - meaning, the older days of our current era, between the Calamity and when humanity was finally recovering - folks took up the title of knight as they fought to protect their homes and people from both man and monster alike. Humanity didn't have much left back then...just a lot of old stories and memories of how things once were, but the legends that were even older than the Old World still managed to survive. Such stories helped keep the survivors alive, and while it's a tradition that's been mostly overwritten by the Civil Corps and other law enforcement nowadays, there's still a fair few of us who stick to those old stories and the honor that comes with claiming the title of knight."

Eli watched him as he spoke; the brooding look had given away to something more resembling a thoughtfulness - a softer, more introspective look, and as he talked his chin was slowly dipping down so his gaze ended up on the floor just in front of his feet.

"So..." she said quietly into the pause that followed. "Why did me mentioning a ghost make you think of another knight?"

Django finally lifted his gaze and flashed her a grim smile. "I drove that Rogue Knight off with the belief that he wouldn't dare step foot here again. I still believe that, in fact. But I've been on my guard for any hints of other troublesome knights that might show up to try and finish the job he left undone. It just so happens that I know of a woman who called herself the Ghost Knight -- I knew her when I was a younger man. We even fought together a few times to clear out monster nests or drive off bandits."

Eli's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"I wish I were. You mentioning you were looking for someone pretending to be a ghost brought her to mind."

"Who is she? What's she look like? Why would she be here?"

"I don't know. I never learned her real name, and she never learned mine. I never even saw her face - only the strange suit of armor she wore. As for why she's here-"

"Is she a mercenary for hire?" Eli interrupted. "What - how did - how do knights function?" At his mildly surprised look she slumped her shoulders a bit. "Sorry - didn't mean to interrupt you."

Django chuckled and pushed off from the counter, moving to line up to throw his darts again. "Not a problem. I can only guess at why she'd be here -- same reason the Rogue Knight was, I wager. I wouldn't call her a mercenary...that's not what we did. But, it's been over a decade since I last spoke with her, and people can change."

Eli shifted and leaned against the counter almost in the same spot he'd just vacated, putting him and the dartboard at her back as she stared a hole into the wood in front of her; if this person was this Ghost Knight that Django had known years ago then that meant it was a good chance that this spy's having an Access Suit was just...a one-off. One person who got their hands on something that actually still worked. That was one fear off the list, at least.

"Django... How did this woman fight? What did she do as the Ghost Knight?"

"Scouting," came his answer, quicker than she'd expected. There was the sound of the dart thunking into the board before he continued. "No one was better at it than her. And in a battle she was the best flanking attacker you could hope to have on your side."

"Flanking... Does that mean she didn't take people on in a direct manner?"

"She avoided that as much as possible but she was still capable of defending herself if she had to." Another thunk of a dart. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

She turned around from the counter in time to see Django turning as well, flicking his wrist and sending the dart at the board without looking or aiming; the dart stuck into the bullseye.

"If you find this person, and manage to capture them, I would like to speak to her."

"I... I mean, I'M willing to let that happen, but I'm not a Civil Corps person. That's not likely up to me."

Django nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his colorful coat. "If you can make that happen, I'd be indebted to you... Excuse me, I should go check the spaghetti. It ought to be done by now."

"Yeah, sure thing. I'll head back up to the counter."

He disappeared through a small door into the kitchen and, as she said, Eli walked out of the game room and back to the counter where the rest of her order was sitting packed neatly into the cloth sack.

She looked over a shoulder at the restaurant's patrons; there were considerably more people here now than had been when she'd first walked in, and Django had purposely wanted to talk to her about it away from others. She really, really wanted to ask him more about how this Ghost Knight woman fought, or where she'd come from, or--

'I'll come back when it's not busy, or maybe I can catch him at home.'

That he'd admitted he'd been on the lookout for any other trouble-making knights worried her...maybe she should also split her history lesson time between Isaac and Django. 

\------------------------------------------------

"Bye, see you tomorrow!"

Django gave Sonia a small wave and a smile as she headed out the front door; there were a few spots left to sweep and then he could put out the lights and head home himself.

Normally he enjoyed the absolute silence of the restaurant late at night - it gave him time to daydream, or plan for the next day's operations. Tonight though... He couldn't help but think of that Ghost Knight. Everything he could recall about her had come flooding back in a rush when Eli had mentioned someone pretending to be a ghost; any other time he would have dismissed it as silly old memories but now...

He bent and swept up dirt into the dustpan, and then moved to carry it over to the waste bin.

Ever since he'd driven that rogue knight off he'd been constantly vigilant for any hint, no matter how small, that someone else had arrived to plunge Portia into chaos. He imagined most people would think he was being paranoid without reason and so had kept such worries to himself...maybe he shouldn't have done that. Portia's residents had been panicked at first and demanding more protections from the Civil Corps folks after the knight incident but, as time wore on, they'd fallen back into their lives without fear of outside threats; would anything be different now if Django had shared his worries with Gale?

"Too late for that," he muttered to himself.

He swept up the last little dust pile and dumped it into the bin, then went to put the dustpan and broom away.

Once everything but a single lamp was powered down he dipped behind the front counter; for the most part he stored napkins, silverware, and small dessert plates behind here but after that Rogue Knight had left he'd started stashing a small box out of sight behind the formal cloth napkins that were only used during holidays.

The box was about the length of his hand from fingertips to the heel of his palm, and was just barely shy of being perfectly square. Django popped the latch open and lifted the lid to reveal a delicate-looking pair of gloves made of silvery wires, each with a single wire that was much longer than the others that ended in a tiny plug; they were very hard to see among the loose cloth that padded the inside of the box, and he knew from experience that even when worn they were difficult to spot.

As he looked the gloves over he had his usual mixed feelings about them; hidden beneath his shirt and jacket were a pair of matching armbands hugging his biceps that had very small charge generators on it -- wearing the gloves with the lead wire plugged in allowed him to charge up and release a controlled shock that went off with a bang, a bright flash of light, and repelled anything he hit along with delivering a strong sting to his target. 

Much like the memories of the Ghost Knight now all his memories of having found these relics came rushing back; he'd once been a young, stupid man, with lofty ideals about what it meant to be a knight without truly understanding anything about knighthood. He'd thought that finding these gloves had been the ultimate stroke of luck -- something to make him an unstoppable force of good in the world. He'd been hilariously proven wrong, over and over, until he began to treat them as tools to compliment his own skill, rather than relying entirely on them. 

When he finally understood what the gloves true purpose ought to be he began to win more often and eventually they had earned him the title of Storm Knight; when he'd realized that his dependence on them had basically shaped his reputation he had almost thrown them away. The fear that someone else would make the same mistakes he did (or worse - that someone would use them to harm others) had made him keep them, and steadily he relied on them less and less over the years until he'd mothballed them five years before he retired. The Rogue Knight had been threat enough that Django had felt the need to take the gloves out of storage and thankfully with them - and with his reputation - that had been enough to scare the knight off. 

The problem with this Ghost Knight was Django knew reputation alone wouldn't drive her away. She had fallen into the same pitfalls he had: thinking that Old World technology made her invincible, or at the very least better than everyone else. Rather than learning and improving she had stagnated...and he'd watched it happen.

"You could have been one of the best..." he sighed, closing the box and tucking it under an arm.

She really could have been...maybe he should have fought her harder on her reliance on that suit. Maybe she would have listened if he'd fully explained his own mistakes with the gloves. Maybe he could have trained with her to show her there was a more honorable way of living. But then again, maybe there wasn't some magical combination of words that would have swayed her to his side and stopped her from getting mad and literally stabbing him in the back.

As he headed to the front door he reached his free hand around to rub at a spot on his lower back. That old scar ached and itched when it was cold or wet outside but it was an old wound he'd learned to ignore; tonight it was a dull throbbing pain - probably exacerbated by the sweeping, or so he told himself before pausing to really examine that thought.

There used to be an old wives tale about how an injury caused by a mortal enemy would burn and ache when that enemy was nearby. The Ghost Knight had been his companion once...he didn't think for a moment that they could be friends again but he could spare a bit of hope that the old tale was true and that he would know exactly when he was needed if it was truly her in the region.


	15. Chapter 15

"So what part of Lucien are you from?"

Harrison quickly adjusted the pillow behind him (padded and pillow'd booths were still something he was trying to adjust to - how did Django keep these clean and free of stains?) and then settled his hands back around the fragrant mug of tea in front of him. "We used to live on the border near Duvos but were forced to move."

The girl - Lily - frowned. "Oh. Yeah, I...I hear that a lot."

"When you live so close to warmongers it's going to be a common story."

"Did your family stay in Lucien?"

Harrison nodded and took a sip of the tea before answering. "We did. We went from a farm to a small home on the opposite side of Lucien -- not enough room for a farm but big enough for my mother's pottery business to continue."

Lily's eyes lit up. "Pottery? Did she happen to be the one who made the little teapots with the lids shaped like wild flowers?"

"...yeah, actually," Harrison answered after a pause. "You've seen them?"

"Ha! Seen them? I owned four!" she giggled. "I loved those things. I love floral things in general...what with having the name Lily and all. My mother's name is Rose - you could say a love for all things flowery runs in the family."

He laughed with her at that, and again sipped from his tea; it was a black tea blend with a really intense flavor that he'd had to temper with more sugar than he was used to (it was still very delicious though). "-I just wish the place had a bigger yard. We owned six dogs when we had to move and there never seemed to be enough space for them to run around once we set up mom's workshop in the back yard."

"Aw..." Lily sighed. "I always wanted a dog but my mother wouldn't let me have one."

"Ours were farm dogs - they kept predators away from the chickens and goats. We couldn't keep the chickens or goats but the dogs came with us when we moved."

Lily nodded and rocked back and forth for a moment with a dreamy look, then made a little popping noise with her mouth and turned her attention back to him. "What was farm life like? Did you have siblings to help out? How many animals did you have?"

"Eh...it was a lot of work. I had just turned seven when we moved so I didn't have to do a lot of it but I had an older brother and sister who both complained about having to get up so early to get chores done before school. I had just gotten old enough to be trusted to feed the chickens each morning..." He sighed -- he really missed the farm some days. All that open space to romp around in, the rooster crowing each morning, the smell of freshly plowed dirt. "How about you?"

"Mom and I lived in a small cottage on the western side of Lucien. Close to the border with Duvos but not so close that we ever had any trouble. OUR troubles always came from the Peripheries -- lots of random beasts would wander out of there every spring. Mom would go drive them off or have to kill them and then we'd sell the meat and hides. She also had this big flower and herb garden too and she'd sell dried and pressed flowers for scrap-booking and the herbs would go to local chefs."

"Were beasts actually that big of a problem? I'd sometimes hear my schoolmates talking about big monsters but it always sounded...like just stories, you know?"

Lily lightly slapped her hands flat on the table, leaning toward him with her eyes wide. "Stories? Ha, no - you should see some of the things that wander out of that area. Nothing that mom couldn't ever handle by herself but sometimes they made a really big mess."

Harrison nodded slowly at that, and for a moment his attention was caught by the steam curling up out of his mug; in a flash of imagination he pictured the steam curling out of the nostrils of some big beasty, and shuddered a bit. "That must have been rough."

"I guess it was."

Lily paused as Sonia brought out the fruit salads they had ordered; someone with a broken ankle had come in to the clinic during Harrison's lunch break and he'd gotten back to eating much later than intended so he wasn't all that hungry but had ordered something anyway because it had seemed like Lily was going to forgo eating since he was.

"-do your parents and siblings still live at your new place? -- well, I guess it's not new now if they have been," Lily giggled. She stuck a grape into her mouth and Harrison could hear it pop from across the table as she bit down.

"They do. We've sort of dug in, you could say," he chuckled. "Set down new roots and now they're in deep." He picked out a grape for himself and almost drooled when he chomped down; these were really, really juicy -- perfectly ripe. Portia really had some of the best produce around. "-how about your family?"

"Mom's still holding down the fort," Lily mumbled around her mouthful of grape pulp. "I don't think anything could convince her to move...it's kind of annoying, really."

"Why's that?"

"Well..." Lily sighed heavily, swallowed, and then absently twirled her fork around with her fingers. "...I don't know. When I was younger she always seemed so bright and cheerful, and loved doing odd jobs that took her out and about to new places. At some point though she came back totally changed and swapped over to pressing flowers and growing herbs. Life...got a lot more difficult when she did that, both monetarily and just in general. It's like a totally different person came home."

"Oh."

Lily shrugged and began picking the rest of the grapes out of the salad; Harrison tried to keep a neutral expression but inwardly he was sort of dying for having managed to make this awkward.

"It's not a big deal," Lily finally went on (after what felt like forever). "Mom doesn't have the heart to travel anymore so I do instead. Take back all sorts of trinkets and stories. She seems to love that part so I keep doing it. It's pretty easy to find odd jobs everywhere so I can see how she managed to do it all the time."

"Yeah, neat," Harrison replied in a rush. "I mean, uh - that's neat," he added after a moment, hoping he managed to get a more normal tone out this time.

She simply grinned at him and bit a bite of watermelon in half. Some juice trickled down her chin; she didn't seem to notice. They ate in silence for a bit; Harrison still felt ready to melt into his seat and disappear but Lily seemed at ease, and the fruit really was good.

Thankfully they managed some more small talk once they'd emptied their bowls -- when and why Harrison decided to become a doctor, more about his mom's pottery business (she asked him to ask his mother if she could hold a lily-patterned tea pot for her, and he promised to write to her about it), Lily's vast knowledge of flowers and their care, some of her traveling stories. That earlier feeling of awkwardness had faded and was replaced with a light, giddy feeling of having met someone new (and someone who...apparently thought he was cute, which was its own sort of sensation that made his heart race a bit).

It was almost closing time by the time they'd paid and walked outside; there was a chilly breeze whistling down the street and Harrison zipped his coat up to the very top.

"How long will you be in Portia?"

Lily shrugged and tightened her scarf. "I didn't plan on staying long but I think I'll stick around for awhile." She flashed him a mischievous grin with that. "Pretty good reason to."

Again he felt his ears burning. "A-ah."

"Do you work every day at the clinic?"

"Not EVERY day, no, but most."

She nodded and bounced on the balls of her feel again. "All right. I'll come poking around again...maybe tomorrow?"

"I...think I'd like that, yeah." They smiled at one another and the burning in his ears spread across his face. "Where are you staying?"

She pointed across the way to Happy Apartments. "There, for now. I WAS camping out near the beach but I'm tired of how cold it's been. And with my arm having a hole in it I wanted ready access to hot water so I could keep it clean."

She waggled her arm at him and he nodded - clean water, hot or not, was definitely better than unfiltered sea water to keep the wound free of infection.

"-oh, speaking of my arm, I had a...weird question."

"Hmm?"

She pursed her lips and hesitated, then huffed. "So up in Atara I overheard folks talking about some kind of machine you had down here - something that surgically fixed things?"

Some kind of-- oh. "You mean the Uplifter?"

"Not sure what it's called but maybe? Someone there was bragging about how it had fixed their split lip without even leaving a scar behind. Does it...only work on faces?" Harrison nodded and her shoulders slumped. "Well, poo. So much for that idea."

"What...idea? Were you wanting to try and use it on your arm?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm cleaning it like the doctor told me to and everything but I was hoping it could be...you know, fixed, without me having to deal with it for the next several weeks."

"Ah. Y-yeah, unfortunately it's only designed to work on the neck and up."

"What's it do, then?"

"Uh..." Harrison shoved his hands into his pockets, thinking -- Xu hadn't formally taught him about the Uplifter just yet but he sort of knew a few things. "It...repairs injuries, and I know it can alter things about your face. It can also temporarily cause your hair to grow in a different color too."

Lily's eyes lit up at that. "Different hair color?! Really?" She blew out a breath and looked up toward the sky, smiling. "I've always wanted green or blue hair... But it only does it temporarily?"

"Yeah. No idea how long it lasts - I haven't been taught much about it."

All of a sudden her expression froze and she looked to him wide-eyed. "Hang on - you said it can ALTER your face?"

"Yeah. Dr. Xu said he's used it to fix cleft lips and a few other facial birth defects on people from Atara and Ethea."

"How?"

"I have no idea," he sighed. "It's a complex piece of machinery. I guess if I read the manual I could figure out the science behind it but I doubt I'll be learning about it any time soon...or ever. I won't have one when I become a doctor and strike out on my own so it might not be worth my time to learn about something I won't have access to later."

Lily's expression relaxed, as did the rest of her, and she rocked back and forth from toes to heels. "That's a good point. Kind of wild that something like that exists and used to exist in the Old World too... I bet Old World people had crazy hair colors," she giggled.

He opened his mouth to respond and then immediately closed it; right on the tip of his tongue was Eli's name and situation -- if anyone would be able to talk about hair color trends of the Old World she'd be the one. But...it seemed like it wasn't his place to tell anyone about her. There was rumor enough floating around without him pointing more people toward her, and he'd seen her therapy sessions; it just...wouldn't be right to put more pressure on her right now. She was a person, not a novelty.

"Either that or they were really terrible about not injuring their faces," he said finally.

Lily let out a laugh that ended in a snort; she clapped her hands to her mouth and blushed a bit (or maybe it was just the way the lights outside the Round Table lit her face - it was hard to tell). "Ha- uh, eheh. Sorry. That just immediately made me think of an entire civilization of people with too-short doors banging their heads everywhere they went."

Harrison bit his lower lip to cut back on his laugh - that WAS a funny image. "Maybe the doors were all normal-sized and Old World people were just really tall."

"Or bad at building doors!"

She started laughing again and Harrison let himself laugh along; even if he knew that was just goofy speculation it was still pretty amusing to picture. 

Once she'd caught her breath she turned toward the Apartments in the distance. "Ok. So I'll see you at some point tomorrow?"

"Sure thing."

"All right! Good night!" She waved over her shoulder and headed off toward the apartment building.

Harrison waited and watched until she made it through the doors and inside, then let his feet carry him to Dr. Xu's house. He had a few books to pick up before he returned to his own rented room at the Happy Apartments building.

Oh. Maybe he should have mentioned he was staying there too.

Man...he was really bad at this.

\-----------------------------------------------

Two more weeks and no sign of the spy.

At least by then Mali had come back and she'd helped Arlo, Remington, and Sam comb the entire Portian countryside again as well as most of the territory between here and Sandrock.

They'd found a few old campsites but the tracks were too muddled to tell who they belonged to; with Old Bob wandering around and tourists moving through Portia it just wasn't possible to positively confirm who had stayed where -- Eli, Asher, and Mali had worked out a rough "when" for the sites but it wasn't any help at determining the "who" part of it. And that rope bridge that went underneath the waterfall was gone now too.

They were essentially at a dead end and it had Arlo frustrated; he hated the idea of danger lurking around Portia. Maybe that spy was sent here to do exactly that - spy. But what if they were sent to harm or steal something? They'd already taken one gun off the first spy...who knew what this semi-invisible person possibly had on them now that their presence was known?

They'd all spent a lot of time discussing tactics; for now they were going to ask Selene to design a sprinkler system to keep the area nice and muddy and also borrow some of the builder's fine wire and hide trip wires in the tallest grass attached to...well, they hadn't decided on that part yet but it was going to be something that could be easily hidden and also made a ton of noise if something shook it. Since none of them could come up with anything that could overcome the suit's near-invisibility they would have to focus on what physical variables they could actually affect.

One decision they'd made that Arlo didn't agree with was what Eli called a "Stupid Plan" - capital S, capital P. The logic, she explained, was that the spy knew that THEY knew the spy was around; they should assume that the spy would be carefully watching them for signs of vigilance and be purposely avoiding their search efforts. The trick to getting the spy to lower their guard again was for the rest of them to pretend to be stupid: everyone goes "back to normal" and pretends to stop looking for them (with emphasis on pretend - they'd all of course still be as vigilant as they could without tipping their hand).

"If we can just convince this person that we're convinced they're gone," Eli had said, "then I bet they'll get bold and sloppy, just like how they got bold the night we first fought them."

It made a sort of sense in a way but Arlo didn't like the idea; he wasn't comfortable with pretending to let his guard down (mostly because he didn't know how to actually do that). The Pigs, Sam, and Remington had been willing to give it a shot so he'd been outnumbered, though they'd at least all respected his concerns about it.

The one good thing out of the decision to enact the Stupid Plan was he and Eli were free to go back to their respective abodes and sleep in their own beds. He didn't realize how much he'd missed his bed until he was back in it - no hard pillow beneath his head, no rough canvas surface of the cot under him, no carpet burns on his elbows from said canvas. It felt like a shameful luxury to be back in a proper bed and he actually overslept the next morning. By the time he'd dressed and hurried down to Selene's to meet the others for their newly restarted morning training sessions they were already halfway through the warm up exercises. It did make him feel a bit better to see Eli looked a little...not tired, but not exactly focused. More like she could fall back asleep if she laid down somewhere. 

Adam was here today in Asher's place; he moved to a spot next to the man and started in with the rest of them as they swapped between exercises and stretches to warm them up for their run and the harder stuff afterward.

"Anything?" he grunted after a bit, glancing toward Adam.

"Nothing," came the answer.

Well...he supposed he wasn't surprised. 

It was nice to be back to training at least; Eli seemed to be going easy (easier) on them today. They finished their warm ups, did their run, and came back to do the harder things but it felt shorter than he remembered it being. Still...the combination of sore muscles, sweat, and a heightened heart rate felt good. When they were done and had cooled off some Remington and Sam headed out to take up their old patrol routes; Adam left to, presumably, head back to the facility camp, leaving him and Eli alone in the yard.

As he watched she did some stretches (ones that were different than those she'd taught them) and then moved over to lean against the fence and stare out into the fields; he glanced out that way too -- there were barren trees, bushes, and a few llamas out there that were picking at the first green shoots coming up. With the spring melt finally upon them the bushes and trees would be budding soon and there'd be more out there aside from the isolated spots of hardy herbs that, somehow, managed to survive and grow even in freezing temperatures.

"I have to be honest," he said into the silence. Eli shifted just enough that he knew she was listening but not so much that she was looking at him. "I have no idea how to act like I'm not aware of my surroundings. That's probably going to be the hardest part about all of this for me."

"Want to learn?"

He came up to stand beside her at the fence and eyed a couple of llamas as they suddenly burst into a hopping fit, bouncing around one another for a few moments before going back to grazing. "How exactly do you teach something like that?"

"It's not hard - you just have to learn new ways to pay attention without paying attention."

She looked over to him with a smug smirk; he blew out a sigh but smiled. "I'm guessing it's something I have to be shown that can't really be explained."

"More or less, yeah."

"I guess the next question is when would you want to start?"

She shrugged. "Can be anytime we're both free. It's not something that's easy to teach so you're going to need a lot of time to dedicate to it."

Arlo nodded; his schedule was back to normal now that they were acting out the Stupid Plan. "We can make it work."

Out in the fields there was suddenly the noise of startled llamas; Arlo shifted his attention from Eli back out to the animals and could see a pair of figures walking in the fields. He squinted that way and it took him a moment to realize it was Dr. Xu and...someone else. Probably that student of his. Xu had what he thought was a basket over one arm and seemed to be gesturing at the little dots of bright green among the brown, soggy grasses. His student nodded and walked over to bend down over one of the green spots and began to carefully remove bits and pieces and hand them up to Xu -- Arlo knew the doctor went on walks to collect whatever freshly growing plants he could find, even in the dead of winter, so it seemed they were observing one of those. 

Movement from the south caught his eye then and he saw someone approaching the two in the fields; whoever it was was bundled up in a heavy coat and had a scarf on -- it looked to be a woman, but not anyone Arlo recognized. She waved at the two in the field and the student waved back (what had been his name? It started with an H...Arlo had only met him once and now he couldn't remember the man's name). Whoever the woman was didn't stick around long: she greeted them, very briefly talked to them, then continued on back toward Portia.

"Any idea who that is?"

Eli shook her head. "Nope. I've seen her walking around town but I've not talked to her myself. Guess I can ask Dr. Xu at my next therapy session."

Arlo nodded, then looked over to her. "...I don't want to make you uncomfortable with personal questions, but..."

A faint smile crossed her face; this time she did turn her head to look at him. "How's it going? It's...going. Some days are better than others but overall it's getting easier. Time heals all wounds as they say."

"I'm glad to hear it." He turned to put his back against the fence and leaned. "There's a holiday coming up - Day of the Bright Sun. I bet a lot of people would like to see you there."

"What's the holiday for?"

"Have you heard of or read about Peach yet?"

She nodded. "That's the guy who invented some machine that got rid of the clouds in the sky, right?"

"Right. It's a holiday to celebrate the sun returning. We spend the week leading up to it wrapping gifts and delivering them to city hall, and on the day of the holiday the gifts are dropped all over town from an airship that flies over Portia."

Eli raised an eyebrow at that. "Not sure which is harder to believe - air-dropped presents or the fact an airship still exists."

"It-" Arlo paused, thinking on how to word it. "-it's probably not the type of airship you might be thinking of."

"I'd hope not. Airships were bigger than Portia is."

"Really?" he asked; she nodded, and he shook his head. "Hard to picture... But ah, no. This airship isn't all that big. Not much bigger than Mali's plane, to be honest."

"Is this a sort of buy in thing to participate then?"

"Buy in?"

"Do I have to give gifts to be able to receive any?"

"Not..." Again he paused. "Not really? I don't think there's any actual rule about it. Why?"

"I'm not the greatest at choosing gifts - especially not for people I hardly know. And I don't want to receive something if I didn't give someone a gift."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Everyone gives something - usually several things - even if it's just small trinkets or even raw materials of some kind, and the gifts don't have anyone's names except for the giver on them. Just last year a pair of gifts I received were a bouquet of flowers and a roll of cotton fabric -- it's sort of a crap shoot for what you might get."

Eli nodded slowly, wrinkling her nose. "Well, if I'm not buying for specific people that makes it a lot easier in that regard. A lot less awkward too, since I'm not physically giving them out myself."

"Nope. Just catch presents falling from the sky."

"Sounds...interesting, then. I'd at least show up for the novelty."

He smiled at her. "And companionship, I'd hope."

She returned the smile. "Yeah, yeah, that too." With a small grunt she straightened and dusted her hands off. "I'll add gift shopping onto my To Do list. Let me know when you next have some free time and we can start in on teaching you a few new tricks."

"I'm free now if you are."

He watched as she turned to head toward the opposite side of the yard where the gate to the road was; after a breath or two he followed her -- what else was he supposed to do?

"Now's good, I guess. Without turning around, how many llamas were out on the field?"

"Uh." Arlo slowed to a stop; the urge to turn around or at least peek was strong but she'd specifically told him NOT to do that. "...five?"

"Seven. How many bushes were out there?"

"Si...six?"

"Four."

He blew out a sigh and started to follow along behind her again. "I'm guessing my first lesson is to assess everything I see?"

"The idea is to sort of...absorb it without actively counting or noting things. Things like numbers, patterns, colors, people, details of places, sounds and what directions things are coming from or moving in. Take it all in, in a glance or two, and be able to recall it quickly."

"Right..." Ahead of him Eli headed out of the gate and then waited, holding it open for him. "Well. I'm up for the challenge."

She just smiled and led the way down the road.

\----------------------------------------------

Something about the sound of the airship overhead was distinctly...uncomfortable.

Not enough that it wasn't something she could tolerate but enough that she could feel anxiety and a bit of fear just beneath the surface; with it came an urge to duck into cover, or to otherwise get out of sight. Eli couldn't recall ever hearing something like it but clearly her subconscious did, and inside her head a small alarm system was starting to blare.

She'd been standing with the crowd of townsfolk only moments ago but the arrival of the airship had sent them all into a stumbling jog together as a group, laughing and lightly jostling one another; no one stopped unless they'd actually managed to snag a present and then those persons hung back to let the group run ahead and get a head start on the rest of the falling presents.

Eli wasn't anywhere near enough to catch any, and at the moment she didn't particularly care.

_I'm FINE. I'm fine. There's no danger here._

She kept it going as a little mantra in her head and forced herself to focus on the spectacle of an entire town catching things raining out of the sky. Sam had said the airship swept across the city and then out to the fields; it should be out of sight and range soon.

Sucking in a breath she scanned her surroundings; a ginger-haired woman with a parasol and Gust were still here, as was Gale. They were walking at a slow pace, talking and laughing amongst themselves, and hadn't seemed to notice she'd lingered.

She should...probably move. To avoid drawing attention to herself. This wasn't something she wanted to try and explain to anyone - especially not on a holiday. Let them have their festivities and fun...no reason to bring the mood down.

Of course that meant following the source of the sound.

_Come on. I can handle this. It won't be much longer._

It took another breath or two to urge herself into a slow walk, heading off after the crowd. Here and there in the street were bows and ribbons - she assumed they'd fallen off the gifts since she was still trying to wrap her head around how the presents could survive falling from such a height. Did shock foam persist through the ages? Maybe she could get a look at a box later.

The crowd was at the far side of the plaza ahead - the one with the big tree in the middle. Eli glanced up and traced the path of a package that was wrapped in bright orange paper with white ribbon; it suddenly hit her that those looked an awful lot like New Year's Dawn presents. A holiday that didn't exist anymore...one she'd never experience again. No presents, no family dinners, no games, no costume parties...

Simultaneously she felt a heavy weight settle in her gut coupled with the sensation of her stomach twisting into a knot, followed by a familiar hot prickle behind her eyes. Abruptly she stopped and spun on her heel, fully intending to retreat as quickly as possible back to her room. In a split instant she realized Asher had been walking up behind her - it was clear he'd been trying to catch up to her and her sudden reversal of direction had caught him by surprise while also nearly bowling him over.

"Whoa-" Asher stumbled a bit as he tried to put some space between them.

"Sorry. What's up?" she asked quickly. She side-stepped him and looked up the street -- no one was in sight now. Good. She could still make an escape.

"Uh." His eyes were on her as she moved. "-is something wrong?"

In the moment Eli knew she could just lie and say everything was fine; the problem was if he could already see it on her face then it'd be pointless to try and hide it now. With a deep breath she rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Yes. Sort of. I just need to get some distance between me and here."

With that she started walking; it was a little difficult to hear him over the sound of the airship but after a pause Asher's footsteps hurried after her.

"At the risk of sounding insensitive, what's the exact problem?"

"Dunno," she replied. "Just something about that sound is...not good."

He sped up until he matched her speed and then walked at her side. "Gotcha. Um. Let's -- have you seen the hot spring retreat? We can catch the Dee-Dee up there and it ought to be far enough away you won't hear the airship."

"I hope you're not expecting me to actually utilize the springs."

"No, I wasn't thinking that. That's just the first location that's within quick and easy reach that I could think of that would also be fairly quiet."

"I could just go home."

"Do you want to be shut in a room at the moment?"

Eli sighed and squeezed her eyes shut; what she wanted, right now, was to be normal and at the festival, holiday, whatever-it-was in the plaza. Which...after that airship left, maybe she could go back. Maybe. Her obvious lack of caught gifts might invite questions she'd rather discuss with Dr. Xu first though, so maybe not.

Luckily as they came within sight of the Dee-Dee stop the Dee-Dee was only ten yards down the road; Asher waved at it and the driver stopped and waited for them to jog down to the stop instead of continuing on. The hum of the Dee-Dee motor seemed a little more familiar, if a bit rougher than she was accustomed to, and it helped a bit to drown out the airship's rumble. It was a short drive up to the retreat and, as Asher had said, it was way quieter -- she could barely detect the airship from here, and once they were standing on the dock that surrounded the little inset pool meant for the hot spring patrons to sit in there was the lapping of water and a bubbling noise as well.

Now that the "danger," according to her brain, was gone she could feel a bit of tension draining away and leaving what felt like a gaping, empty ache behind her right eye. Asher found and unfolded a pair of fabric deck chairs and set them up facing the west, away from Portia and any chance of spotting the airship. Eli dropped into one and ground the heels of her palms into her eyes.

"So." She had to clear her throat and try again. "-so, was there something you needed?"

Asher lowered himself into the other chair but didn't lean back. "Not in particular. Mali wanted to talk to Arlo and I was asked to play messenger but since he's busy with the holiday she wasn't expecting him to go rushing out."

"Don't let me keep you from an errand. I'll be fine."

He waved a hand dismissively. "They can wait. Unless you're wanting me to leave." With that he looked over to her.

She blew out a long sigh. "I don't know what I want. Well, I do. But none of what I want is possible. I want to go home. I want to hug my husband and parents again. I want to see my squad. Some days I wake up and I'm perfectly fine with the thought that all that's gone and there's nothing I can do about it...other days, you just have to press on and act like you're fine."

Asher bowed his head slightly, resting his chin on his fists with his elbows braced against the hard wood of the arms of the deck chair. "I wish there was something I could do, or say, to help with it all. Sometimes being human seems like a waste, doesn't it? Brains we don't have control over stirring us up and making someone think or feel things they probably wouldn't choose to otherwise."

Eli managed a very faint smile. "I definitely can think of better emotions to be stuck with, yes." She let out another heavy sigh and rubbed at her temples - the ache was spreading across the front of her head, through the forehead area and behind both eyes now. "I think I have a slight edge in that part of ranger training was focusing on instinct and logic and forgoing most emotional reactions. We were...always ready for it to go to hell. You had to be ready to switch off the emotional part of your brain and get shit done at any moment. I think my 300 year long nap damaged that switch, or maybe this is just too much to switch off whenever I want to."

Asher nodded at her but didn't say anything; they both went quiet and Eli focused her attention on the details and soft noises around her: the wind, the bubbling of the spring, the small waves caused by the bubbles hitting the pilings that supported the dock. A few times she heard faint birdsong. There was a small building on the dock that she assumed held whatever was needed for the hot springs business; it was partially blocking the wind coming off the fields so the steam off the springs was actually making it a bit too warm for her liking. She thought of taking her jacket off but didn't want her shirt to get damp.

Without any other option Eli just sat and steamed inside her coat until every last hint of sound of the airship was gone; after giving it a few minutes more she stood up and turned to look toward Portia -- at least from here it seemed like the airship was actually gone. 

There was the creaking of a deck chair to her right and out of the corner of an eye Eli could just make out Asher standing up.

"Are you ready to head back?"

"I think so. It seems pretty quiet."

He studied her a moment. "Are you wanting to go back to the celebration, or just head home?"

"We'll see how I feel when I'm at the gate again."

They put the deck chairs away and headed back toward the Dee-Dee stop to wait for the next one to drive by.

"...as embarrassing and awkward as this was... Thanks."

Asher flashed her a gap-toothed grin. "You're welcome. Have to earn my keep somehow."

She snorted and shook her head. "Typically 'friend' is not a salaried position."

"Good job security, at least."

\------------------------------------------------

Everyone around him was buzzing with excitement and chattering over the gifts they'd gotten this year; Arlo had gotten a neat looking woven wristband in purples and greens (no name on it so no idea who had given it) along with a new bronze blade from Django, and (purely by accident, since his third gift had technically been caught up in the tree without anyone noticing until it fell out and hit him as he was walking by) a nice woolen blanket from Sophie.

The box that the blanket had come in was a tad too bulky to comfortably carry around so he had it sitting on the bench beside him as he stood off to the side of the Research Center; everyone was beginning to break off in small groups to go take photos together, and he knew that once Sam and Remington had done whatever personal ones they wanted to take that they'd be looking for him so they could all take their yearly Civil Corps picture together.

Skimming the crowd Arlo couldn't help but feel a bit sad that he didn't see Eli anywhere; he had the urge to go walking around to see if he'd just overlooked her somehow but knew it'd be easier for Remington and Sam to find him if he stayed put.

He knew that logically it was going to take time for Eli to feel fully welcome, and like she fully fit in...still, he couldn't help but feel like he was at fault in some way. Should he have personally invited her along, instead of leaving it open? But then would it seem like he was being overbearing or guilting her into something she didn't want to do? There were times he held back out of worry that he was about to be too pushy but perhaps that instead was making him look too distant?

"Arloooooo-"

At the shout he looked up sharply only to see a mob of children heading his way - the triplets, Jack, and Toby at their head. 

"No need to yell. What do you need?"

Toby walked up and let the boxes he was carrying drop to the ground in a heap. "Have you seen Eli? We can't find her anywhere."

Hm. So that confirmed that she just wasn't here rather than he'd somehow missed her. "I haven't, sorry."

Toby huffed out a sigh. "Guess we'll keep looking. Mayor Gale let us grab some extra presents for her since no one had seen her and we wanna give them to her."

Arlo looked the kids over; the boxes at Toby's feet had been opened, as were the three boxes Jack was toting. Each of the triplets had two opened boxes each but they also all carried one extra, unopened gift. "That's very nice of you kids to do that."

"Guess we can check if she's at home," Jack said. Toby nodded and scooped up his opened gifts.

"Try not to bombard her," Arlo called after them as they started to head off up the street.

"What was that all about?"

Arlo turned to see Sam standing there. "They're looking for Eli. Don't suppose you've seen her today?"

"Not since the very start," Sam answered. "She was with everyone when the airship started its pass. You don't think something happened to call her away, do you?"

He frowned; that hadn't crossed his mind, actually. "...I hope not. We should go check - have you seen Remington?"

"Selene cornered him for a few pictures but he should be free here in a few."

With a nod Arlo turned around and looked over the blanket box; there was a recycle bin at the bench near the base of the tree. He first took the bronze sword out of its box and fastened its clip to one of the straps on his jacket, then slipped the sword into place until he heard it click securely. Next he took the blanket out of the box and tossed it over his shoulder; it didn't take long to walk over to the recycle bin and deposit the boxes, and by then Remington had spotted them and they all met up at the barbershop.

"Do we have trouble?" Remington asked once he'd reached them.

"Possibly," Sam replied. "Seems Eli disappeared right as the airship started its flight over town - we're worried something might have called her away so we're headed out to the facility to go looking for her."

Arlo nodded (even though they hadn't discussed the 'facility' part - it made sense to head in that direction so he wasn't going to try and correct her). "If you're done here let's head out."

Remington gave a curt nod and the three of them turned to head up the street; once they'd crested the hill and arrived in Peach Plaza they, to their surprise, spied Eli -- she was standing with Asher and the five kids were huddled around them near Peach's statue.

"-well that's good news," Sam said after a pause. "If she AND Asher are both here then there's probably nothing wrong."

"At the facility," Arlo added. He looked between the two of them. "There might be something else wrong, if you catch my meaning."

Remington frowned. "Hmm. Yeah...could be. I bet this reminds her of a holiday back in her own time. Bad memories."

Sam matched his frown. "Didn't think about that. ...well, let's go see."

Arlo walked with them up toward the group around Eli; Asher caught his eye and flashed them an 'OK' signal discretely, which Arlo acknowledged with quick jerk of his head.

"-AND," Toby was saying, as they got within earshot. "Look! I kept my grades up just like I said I would!"

The three unopened gifts were sitting in a small stack at Eli's feet; Arlo watched as Eli turned her attention to a square of paper Toby was waving around. Finally she managed to grab it out of his hands and hold it still so she could read it and after a moment she nodded and handed it back.

"All right, fair enough - you did like you promised your mother you'd do. So now, once your mother says it's ok to start, I'll start teaching you. But only when your mother says so," Eli said, emphasizing the last part.

"Man, this is going to be great!" Toby squealed. He stuffed the report card back into his jacket pocket and spun around, taking off in a sprint only to collide with Remington. "-oof, sorry!"

Remington helped get him steady on his feet and then wisely stood aside as the boy took off running again. "It's fine just-" and then, rather than finishing his sentence, just shrugged with an amused look as Toby was already mostly out of sight.

The other kids giggled and said their goodbyes and headed off to follow Toby (though at a much slower speed), leaving the five adults to look to one another.

"We were worried when we didn't see you," Remington finally said. 

Eli smiled faintly; Arlo thought she looked tired.

"I'm fine. Just had to step away to get some air," she replied. Her attention flicked down to the gifts at her feet, and then Arlo was almost certain she looked at the wristband he was wearing; the smile got a little deeper and he had an inkling as to who had given the gift without putting their name on it. "Was nice of them to think of me like that."

"They wanted to make sure you got something," Arlo said. "You were missed today."

Something flickered across her face but the smile came right back. "Ha, c'mon - you're going to make me blush."

As she talked there was something written on Asher's face but Arlo couldn't read it well - it was something like thinly disguised concern, he thought. It seemed to him like Eli hadn't just stepped away for air...but what had happened?

Asher noticed Arlo studying him and the odd look went away, replaced with a smile of his own. "Well! Now that that's taken care of, what say we all head down to what's left of the festivities?"

"It's just pictures left, and then the town photo," Sam said. "If we hurry we might be able to get one or two in before the big one."

Eli's brow furrowed. "Another town photo? Is that just...something that's done at every holiday?"

"Mostly," Remington chuckled. "We do like our photographs here in Portia."

After a pause Eli nodded at that. "I guess some things don't change -- ah, er. I mean, people's desire to document things don't. There's no conceiveable way that ANY city in my time could have ever gathered together for one big group photo where you could still even tell it WAS people."

She bent to pick up the gifts; Arlo stepped over to her and offered a hand. "Want to open those before you head down?"

"Oh. Guess I should, yeah." 

Arlo took two of the gifts off her hands and stood there while she balanced the third one on top of them. The first box opened revealed a finely carved crystal inside a delicate wire filigree that was strung on a leather tie -- something Arlo immediately recognized because HE'D been the one that had bought that one from a traveling craftsman months ago and given over to city hall as one of his gifts.

When she flipped the tag over to read it Arlo saw her expression soften a bit, and the smile grew. "Ha - interesting twist of fate, that."

"Y-yeah, I guess," he laughed quietly. "Is the wristband something you...?"

"Saw me looking at it, huh?" she said as she tied the crystal necklace on. "I couldn't figure out what to buy so I made a couple things. Funny we got one another's gifts."

"Better than getting one of your own?" Sam offered. She looked amused but also admiring of the necklace. "Where'd you even get that?"

"I'll tell you later," Arlo answered. He swapped one of Eli's unopened gifts with the empty box and stood there holding her last one while she opened the considerably larger box.

Inside was a pot (plastic, but painted with a gorgeous geometric pattern) with a healthy looking asteria plant in it with a tag from Alice attached to it; Arlo again swapped out her last gift with the empty box and then, as she was opening it, began to carefully break the boxes down so they could go into the recycle bin. Inside the last box was a copy of Journey to the East, from Django.

Eli turned the book over in her hands. "Huh...I remember a book by this name existing back in my day. I wonder if this is the same story."

"Only one way to find out," Remington said with a grin. He gently clapped a hand to Eli's shoulder and looked down the street. "Why don't we all go get one photo squeezed in?"

"Sure." Eli tucked the took under an armpit and carried the potted asteria in the same arm.

Arlo quickly collapsed the book the book had been in and deposited them in the recycle bin as they passed by; they had their picture taken together just outside of Portia's gates then hurried back inside to get on the riser for the town photo.

"How about dinner?" Asher asked once the picture was taken. "We can all squeeze into a booth, probably."

"Didn't you have a message for Arlo?" Eli asked dryly.

Asher shrugged. "I'm getting to it. Mali stressed that it wasn't any rush."

Arlo looked over at him. "What?"

"Mali wants to talk to you, when you've got time. She specifically said it's not anything immediately important because she didn't want to interrupt your holiday. So, let's go get dinner, then you and I-" he said, pausing to waggle thumb between himself and Arlo, "-can take them some dinner and see what Mali wanted."

"Assuming we can get into the Round Table," Sam said with a smirk and a nod of her head toward the crowd of people walking toward the restaurant.

Asher shrugged again and grabbed the elbows of Remington and Eli. "Then let's get moving so we don't get shut out." He began to pull them along with him, and Sam and Arlo followed.

They did manage to get a table, with Remington and Sam on one side and Eli sandwiched between Asher and Arlo on the other. Arlo found it...a bit suspect, that it always seemed like Asher found a spot next to Eli; it wasn't his business but it stood out to him in a way he thought he should remember.

It looked like Eli's first lesson on noticing things had already sunk in.


End file.
